Amorphous Hearts
by sad-sensei
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke clash on the rooftop of Konoha's Hospital after Sasuke's recovery. How much would change if that fight had turned out differently? Chapter Six Revision Posted
1. Chapter One: The End

Chapter One: The End

The sun was high in the sky, its light and heat bearing down upon the pair of shinobi. Both warrior's skin was glazed with sweat, but neither seemed close to stopping their assault. The calm air between them was strictly a result of a pause of the struggle, both combatants reassessing their strategies.

This wasn't the first time these ninja had met. Though, this was the first time any spar between them had evolved to such a level. The rage emanating from each side was palpable, although manifested for differing reasons. Lost in concentration, neither shinobi noticed the entrance of their third team member—who kept her distance, and acted as an observer.

Rushing into action, Sasuke began a series of handseals, and jumped backwards onto the fence, which lined the roof.

"Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" (Great Fireball Technique)

A large stream of fire erupted from Sasuke's mouth, engulfing the area where Naruto had stood. Sasuke continued the stream for a few moments before removing his hands from his mouth and drawing four shruiken—two in each hand. He launched the weapons into the flames, drew two kunai, and jumped back to the roof's surface. Sasuke landed, already running towards the slowly dying flames, wary of any retaliation. As the jutsu died down, and the smoke clear, Sasuke was furious to discover no charred body, or any trace of Naruto.

"It's not me you're looking for, is it?" Came a taunting voice from behind Sasuke, who turned to see Naruto relaxing against the fence that Sasuke had just occupied. Growling, Sasuke moved to charge, before he was interrupted.

"Or maybe it's me!"

Spinning, Sasuke noticed a second Naruto, only a few meters to his left.

"No! I think it's us!" came a roar from the other side of the roof. Thirty clones jumped into Sasuke's field of vision, each one charging the brooding shinobi.

Sasuke rushed to enter the fray, spinning and dancing past Naruto's awkward punches and kicks, and dispelling the copies with ease. Destroying the last of the clones, a fist caught the boy unaware, and sent him reeling backwards. Three more clones appeared, each one aiming to kick Sasuke into the air.

Flipping back onto his hands, Sasuke rotated his legs, the spinning limbs dispelling the approaching clones. As his rotation ended, Sasuke flipped back onto his feet, staring through the smoke at his rival, who stood parallel across the roof.

"This has gone on long enough Naruto-teme."

Sasuke began a series of handseals, each seal appearing faster than the last. When he finished, he pointed his palm towards the ground, his fingers curled in as if he was holding something. The sky began to darken, clouds appearing from nowhere and converging above the hospital. Starting as a small spark, lightning appeared in Sasuke's hand, slowly growing until his hand was no longer visible from the glare of the unstable power.

As the lightning began to gather in Sasuke's hand, Naruto started to worry. _"This is what Kakashi-sama used to take down Zabuza-san…this cannot be good. I only know one attack that can match this type of destruction."_

A clone appeared behind Naruto as the boy held his hand up, pointing his palm towards the sky. The clone began to spin his hands above Naruto's palm, as if he was molding a spinning pot. Slowly, a revolving ball of chakra formed in Naruto's palm.

"It's time to end this!" shouted Sasuke, slicing his attack straight through a nearby wall.

Sakura noticed Sasuke's attack cut through the concrete as if it hadn't met any resistance. _"This is not happening, this is not happening! That attack will tear right through Naruto-kun. What is Sasuke-kun thinking! He could get in serious trouble for this!"_ Sakura raced from her observing position, heading towards a spot between her two teammates. _"I've got to stop Naruto-baka before he gets himself killed! What was he thinking accepting a challenge from Sasuke-kun?"_

Hunching over, Sasuke began to run towards Naruto, picking up speed quickly. His hand, which hung close to the ground, was still covered in lightning and tore through the concrete roof like it was nothing.

Naruto dispelled his clone and glanced at his rasengan, making sure that the attack had formed properly. As he returned his gaze to the charging Sasuke, he caught a bit of movement out of the corner of his eye. _"Sakura-chan! What is she doing?"_ Looking back to Sasuke, he could taste the killing intent rolling from the boy. _"He's not going to stop, is he? He probably doesn't even know she's there!"_ In a split second, Naruto realized what he had to do, and pushed more chakra into his attack.

_"No, it's the only option. He has to be stopped. I'm sorry Sakura-chan…"_

Beginning his charge towards Sasuke, Naruto reared his fist back and gritted his teeth.

ooOOoo

_Zabuza laughed at the younger ninja, their sensei held captive in his water prison._

_ "I said run! Your mission is not to prove how brave you are, it's to save the bridge builder! Mizu Bunshin can only travel so far from their caster. Stay on Mission!" Kakashi was pleading with his students, hoping one of them would talk some sense into the others._

_ "Even if we run, he'll just hunt us down and finish us off. And without Kakashi-sama, we won't stand a chance." said Sasuke, loud enough for his teammates to hear._

_ "Bridge builder?" Naruto appeared to be asking for permission to stay._

_ Tazuna sighed. "Well, I guess this all happened because of me, right? Because I wanted to stay alive…well, not anymore! Forget about me and do what you have to do to save your sensei!"_

_Naruto nodded and began a series of handseals, calling out his jutsu. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" (Shadow Clone Jutsu)_

_ Twelve clones appeared from the smoke and charged Zabuza's clone, which smirked and drew its blade. Within seconds, the clone had dispersed Naruto's copies, and was again facing the genin team. _

_ Naruto had just finished whispering to Sasuke, who nodded and fell back, Naruto flashing handseals again._

"_You ready Sasuke-kun?"_

_The boy nodded, making a noise that the team had come to understand was his equivalent of 'yes.' More smoke appeared, and thirty clones charged along with the real Naruto._

_ "These clones are as useless as you are! Nothing you know will be able to stand up to me!"_

_ As Zabuza dispersed the clones with his blade, he spun and kicked the real Naruto in the chest, sending the boy skidding back towards his team._

_ "I'm not done yet, I still have this!" exclaimed Naruto as he withdrew a weapon from his pouch. "Sasuke-kun!" yelled Naruto, throwing the weapon to Sasuke, who caught it with ease. The Uchiha spun and leapt into the air, releasing the blades of the fuuma shuriken. Spinning, Sasuke launched the weapon towards Zabuza's clone._

_ "You think you can touch me…with this toy?" Zabuza merely stuck out his hand and caught the revolving shuriken with exaggerated ease. "You must be joking!" Zabuza began to laugh, but was cut short when a second shuriken shot past his clone._

_ "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!" (Shadow Shuriken Technique) shouted Sasuke as he landed, smirking at the assassin._

_ "A second shuriken, hidden in the shadow of the first!" A surprised Zabuza glanced nervously for a moment, before tensing his legs._

_ Jumping, Zabuza raised his knees high and the shuriken passed right beneath him._

_ "You really thought you would be able catch me off guard?" prodded the jonin, who was still mid-air._

_ In a puff of smoke, the shuriken that Zabuza had dodged disappeared, replaced with Naruto._

_ "Eat this!" yelled Naruto, as he hurled three kunai at Zabuza._

ooOOoo

Sasuke smirked as the memory flooded back to him. They had worked well together that day, catching a jonin level missing-nin off guard.

_"That gaki didn't do so bad…no. I don't need him. I've never needed him. He's just a stepping stone to destroy Itachi-san."_

The sound of chirping birds was all Sasuke could hear as he neared Naruto.

ooOOoo

_Naruto fell with a thud, and sat up slowly. He hoped that rubbing his head would relieve some of the pain from his most recent attempts. Looking up, he noticed his most recent kunai marks were not far from the top of the tree. Looking to his right, he saw Sasuke in a similar position. Sasuke's marks were about the same height as his own. The boy's eyes met, each one as determined as the other. Rising, Naruto motioned to the tree, and retrieved his kunai. Sasuke nodded, and stood as well, grabbing his own kunai. With a yell, they both charged up the tree, climbing much further than either had before. Naruto leapt and grabbed a branch near the top of his tree. As he struggled to rise, he felt something above him. Looking up, he noticed Sasuke was sitting on a branch, only inches above him. The boy looked battered and exhausted, but had a smile on his face. Sasuke reached out his hand, motioning Naruto upward. Naruto obliged and reached up, grasping the Uchiha's arm. Sasuke pulled Naruto upward, and both boys rested for a moment. Looking down, Naruto noticed how high they were from the ground._

_ The blond shinobi began to chuckle, also noticing how scrappy he looked. Sasuke began to laugh to, both boys glad to have achieved new heights._

ooOOoo

Naruto's eyes filled with sadness as he thought of what was to come. He had considered Sasuke a rival at the least, but their bond was the closest thing he had ever felt to brotherhood.

_"This is the only way to do this…I'm sorry that it turned out this was Sasuke-kun…"_

ooOOoo

Time seemed to slow as the warriors approached each other. Suddenly, Sakura entered their field of vision. The girl was crying, holding her arms out in both directions, as if to stop her teammates.

Naruto gritted his teeth as he pushed forward, aiming carefully.

_"Damn it, she's too close, I don't know if I can get past her…"_

Sasuke continued to charge, lost in his own thoughts and oblivious to Sakura's appearance.

**"Chidori!"**

** "Rasengan!"**


	2. Chapter Two: Beginnings

Chapter Two: Beginnings

The explosion tore apart the entire middle section of the roof, sending broken concrete in all directions and nearly cracking the building down the middle. Patches of the roof began to collapse, leaving gaping holes for the sunlight to flood.

Sasuke could feel the warm liquid that covered his arm. It was the second time in his life that someone else's blood was drying on his skin. Sasuke's attack died down, and the lightning faded. He deactivated his Sharingan, and slowly pulled his hand back towards himself, carefully avoiding the edges of the wound. He could only watch as Naruto's attack faded away, it's source of chakra slowly fading. Sasuke's eyes met Naruto's, the blonde's calm expression confusing him. With a smile, Naruto began to fall, and blood began to seep into his clothes.

A few feet away, a shocked Sakura watched the boy who had saved her life collapse. Naruto's knees buckled and his body followed, cracking through the weakened concrete and onto the floor below.

_"And now begins the mystery…"_

Sasuke backed away for a moment, still unsure of what he was feeling. _"No, he'll be fine. He would never let himself die by my hand, he's too stubborn…" _Odd feelings began to pester the Uchiha, but he was quick to crush them. _"It doesn't matter. He was weak. He was just a milestone; a step; a rung….I have to concentrate on what's important…"_

_"Why did he push me? God, there's so much blood, what should I do?"_ Sakura turned to her teammate, who seemed to be struggling within himself. "What did you do Sasuke-kun?" she whimpered, still in shock from what had occurred.

Sasuke looked to his teammate, and the realization of his actions flooded his mind. _"What have I done…?"_

Sasuke turned and sprinted off, the greater battle with himself still to follow. As the boy left, Sakura jumped up, rushing to the edge of the hole Naruto had fallen through. About twenty feet below, Naruto lay in a heap, blood beginning to pool around his body. Sakura screamed his name, begging for him to get up, but the boy did not stir.

In a flash, a large man with white hair appeared next to Sakura, and jumped down next to Naruto. The man had a concerned look on his face, and he scooped up Naruto into his arms. Jumping back onto the roof, he sped off in the direction of the Hokage's tower.

ooOOoo

"I need you to get these papers signed by the Yakushi Ao, Chief of Medicine at Tobirama Memorial Hospital by tomorrow, in order to authorize the construction of the new Cath-Lab there. Can you run those over to him the first chance you get?"  
The chunin before Tsunade nodded, grabbing the folder and exiting the office. Sighing, Tsunade looked out across the village from her perch. The Hokage Tower was built into a great tree, which stood at the center of Konohagakure. Surrounding the tree was a circular platform, which was overrun by roots. Around that was a circular pool of crystal clear water.

When her ancestors had founded the great village, they had come upon a clearing. The clearing was full of beautiful plants, with scattered trees. Although the trees stood at great heights, one stood out from the others. In the middle of a small lake, a tiny island rested. The only thing on this island was a huge tree, the base of which covered the entire surface of the island. The tree sprawled upwards, extending far above the tops of the others. It was here that the Senju and Uchiha decided to settle their people.

Since the creation of the village, the tree was hollowed out and converted into the Hokage Tower. The village was built around the tower in a circular grid, making the village very easy to navigate. The tower acted as the intersection of two roads, which led to the four gates of Konoha. The first road, which extended from east to west—and began and ended with the eastern and western gates—was named after the Shodai Hokage Senju Hashirama. The other, which ran from north to south—and began and ended with the northern and southern gates—was named after his brother, the Nidaime Hokage Senju Tobirama. The eastern and western gates were almost always closed, with exceptions made during evacuations and other large movements of citizens. The north and south gates were usually open. Tobirama was the path that all travelers took when they first entered the great village. Because of this, it became the focal point for shops and restaurants, as well as traders from other countries or regions. These merchants either set up stands or purchased building space to put up a shop. Hashirama, because of its more 'enclosed' nature, was where most of the important government buildings were built. Along the route were three hospitals, the academy, various schools, the colloseum (where most large scale events were held) and the Konoha Police Headquarters (which resided towards the end of the road, near the Uchiha district).

Once one passed these two main roads, the city itself was divided into districts. The districts went by number as they got further from the tower, with the exception of the larger clans housing districts, such as the Uchiha district or the Hyuuga district. As a general rule, the further your district was from the Hokage Tower, the less affluent you became.

When viewed from the side, one might notice the city resembled an anthill; starting from the tower, each building was slightly smaller than the last until you reached the outer wall, which reached even higher than the tower. The city was designed in such a way so that it could be more easily defended from invading forces. If the city was invaded, the defending forces could always retreat backwards to 'higher ground,' because the buildings closer to the center were taller than those at the edge.

From the Hokage's office near the top of the tower, the people below looked like bugs. Tsunade watched as the village went about their business, oblivious to her gaze. She sighed again, and went back to signing the many ordinances and requests before her. She was shocked from her work when the doors of her office exploded off their hinges, one crashing to each side of her. She rose in a rage, before she realized who rushed in.

Jiraiya was covered in blood , holding an even more soaked Naruto in his arms. His face was one of worry, and before he could speak Tsunade was before him.

"I think he and Sasuke-san fought. It looks like the boy used the Chidori…"

"Luckily the heat would have stopped some of the bleeding, but this looks really bad. We need to get him to the hospital. Shizune-san!" Shizune rushed into the office, shocked at the scene before her, she hesitated before the three disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

ooOOoo

The group separated after they appeared, Shizune rushing to gather the best medics. Tsunade headed for the lower level of the hospital, which had more open space for these kinds of wounds. Kicking open the door at the bottom of the stairs, Tsunade ran forward, laying Naruto down in the middle of the huge room. When the other medic-nin entered, Tsuande was already doing a full diagnostic. "Vitals are unstable and falling. Severe damage to the right main stem bronchus. Three and a half ribs destroyed, along with partial damage to the right trapezius muscle and the full destruction of the infraspinatus fascia. He was hit directly in the chest with a Chidori. We need to reconstruct the lung, bone and muscle tissue or I don't think he'll make it…" On the verge of tears, she watched move towards the boy's unconscious form. _"Why hasn't the brat healed yet? He should have been safe by now…"_

Flashing handseals, Shizune bit her thumb and pushed her palms to Naruto's chest, right above the wound. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Chikatsu Saisei!" Markings shot forth from her hands, forming a huge rectangle in the room, the focal point being Naruto's body. Small fires lit on each side, right in front of dark triangles. As the final preparation, Shizune plucked one of Naruto's hairs, placing it over the wound. "Places, now!"

Four medics appeared, each one trained in this specific form of healing. The medics took their places, one at each corner of the markings. The quartet began a series of handseals, each in perfect unison.

"Chikatsu Saisei no Jutsu!" (Healing Resuscitation Regeneration) they all yelled, holding the final seal as a green glow covered their hands. The middle of the rectangle began to glow as well, the chakra flowing from each ninja into the strand of hair. The chakra broke down Naruto's cell construction, working to rebuild the lost tissue.

Tsunade wished she could be helping, but as Hokage she needed to concentrate on the village's needs as well. Shizune ushered her out of the room, a worried look on both of their faces.

ooOOoo

Naruto lay peacefully, his entire torso wrapped in bandages. Jiraiya had left not too long before, leaving Tsunade alone with the young boy. Naruto had lost three and three-fourths a rib, damaged most of his right back muscles and the muscles between the ribs, and some very heavy damage to his right atrium and spine. It would be a miracle if he woke from his coma, even with the help of the Kyuubi's healing influence.

_"There has to be a reason…usually, the Kyuubi's influence would have healed him quickly, even with the extensive damage he experienced. The fact that such a strong jutsu was necessary to reverse the damage is astounding in his case…"_

Laying her head upon Naruto's bed, Tsunade let her mind wander to all the memories she had of the boy. Slowly but surely, the steady 'beep's of the EKG and the otherwise silent hospital lulled the Hokage into her dreams.

ooOOoo

Kakashi bowed slightly to Tsunade as he entered, noticing he had woken the woman. She had spent the entire night at the hospital, and sunlight had begun to flood into the windows. Rising, she noticed the concerned look on what was visible of Kakashi's face.

"How is he?" the jonin asked.

"He's fully healed as far as we can tell, and he's stable on his own. But he still is unconscious. We ran an EEG, but the results were odd…"

"What do you mean?"

"His brain seems to be functioning at an extremely accelerated rate. We ran the test four times to be sure…something is going on in there…"

Kakashi nodded in understanding, his eyes never leaving the sleeping boy. "Can I have a minute with him alone?"

Tsunade nodded, stepping aside. "I have to get back to the office anyway. The destruction these two caused on Tobirama hospital is colossal. Not to mention all the work I probably missed yesterday…"

Stepping out, Tsunade slid the door closed behind her.

Kakashi slowly made his way to the edge of Naruto's bed. He sat in the seat previously occupied by Tsunade, leaning his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. The jonin ran his hands through his hair and sighed, looking back to the boy. "Naruto-kun…I don't know if you can hear me…Kami, Naruto-kun I don't know what to say. This is entirely my fault. I stood by as Sasuke-kun's rage grew. Hell, I taught him the Chidori…" The copy ninja paused, unsure of how to continue. Reaching into his pouch, Kakashi withdrew a kunai, and held the blade to his palm. With a quick slash, blood began to flow from the fresh wound. "I will never abandon a comrade again. I will learn from my mistakes, but stop living in the past. Upon this wound, I make this pledge…'Believe it'…" Rising, the copy ninja bound his wound slowly, not bothering to wipe the blood from his kunai. "Please…forgive me Naruto-kun…"

With that, he was gone.

ooOOoo

A week had passed, and Konoha had been uneventful without the boy's intermittent yells and cleverly prepared, but annoying pranks. Few visitors had stopped by as of yet, but the constant presence of Naruto's "family" created a microcosm of happiness in the recovery room. Tsunade had been doing daily examinations—hoping to discover the causes behind the boy's lengthy recovery, but to no avail. Naruto's chakra was still at extremely low levels, and the constant twitches of pain from the unconscious boy had forced Tsunade to put him on a morphine drip. An MRI had showed little to no brain damage, and almost perfect reconstruction of the muscle tissue…

Iruka continued to grade his class' most recent study paper, "The Effects of History in Ninja Encounters," as he sat to the left of Naruto. The blonde's rhythmic breathing was soothing as Iruka thought over the last week. His most recent batch of students were rambunctious to say the least, but none could ever match the enthusiasm which Naruto contained.

Iruka laughed to himself as he remembered his adventures with Naruto. Every time the boy had pulled a prank—although a little mad—Iruka had been secretly proud of the boy deep down. He watched as Naruto snuck through the village, successfully dodging Chunin and Jonin, who had given chase after realizing the paint on the Hokage's Monument, or the rearrangement of the many statues throughout the village, or another one of the boy's elaborate jokes. Naruto's pranks were never repeated, and always left the teacher boggled—at times the sheer planning required scared him, but Naruto never seemed to realize the extent of the strategy involved.

Glancing towards the open window, the curtains fluttered a bit as a wind blew in through the screen. A fly landed on the pane, "sniffing" around a bit before jettisoning off again. The sun was beginning its decent towards the Hokage's Monument across the village, shadowing the leaders' eyes and igniting the village shops with a xanthic glow. Rubbing his hand across his trademark scar, the Chunin sighed and returned to his work. The steady "bleeps" of the EKG continued to ring out as Iruka's pen scribbled small notes over the essays…

ooOOoo

Tsunade rushed into the room to find medics hustling around Naruto's bed. His heartbeat had skyrocketed suddenly, and the boy was twitching in agony. Slowly, red chakra began to seep from the boys skin, giving the boy a glowing aura. As the ninja rushed to slow his heartbeat, an explosion of demonic chakra washed over the area, causing a few medics to vomit. The remaining inhabitants were knocked over by the force of the wave, and struggled to rise under the constant pressure.

_ "Kami…please save him…"_


	3. Chapter Three: Discussions

Chapter Three: Discussions

The young boy groaned as he awoke, his body aching from stiffness. Arching his back, a small pop filled the air as bubbles in the fluid between his joints burst. Naruto placed himself into a push-up position, and pushed—lifting his body from the damp floor. Puddles had formed in the small indents scattered along the floor, while the rest of the concrete surface felt damp to the touch. Blinking his eyes a bit, the darkness began to clear to reveal a circular, concrete room, with several pathways leading outward from the center. The halls were all identical, each one solid, gray concrete disappearing into darkness in the distance. Wiping himself off, Naruto noticed a change in his attire and stature. He stood a few inches taller, and wore the standard Jonin outfit from Konoha. His feet were wrapped in bandages under his sandals, and his headband pushed up his unruly blond hair, which was a tad longer. "Is this…me?" A sharp noise from the hall behind him set him into a defensive position, pulling two kunai from the holster on his right leg.

Kunai in each hand, Naruto moved forward towards the hallway, keeping quiet to avoid detection. As he grew closer to the hallway, a smell attacked his nose. The air was stiff with age, and it was uncomforting to Naruto. He began to turn away, when a soft noise filled the air. "It sounds like…a faucet?" Naruto spoke aloud, moving closer to the middle of the room again. From the darkness in the adjacent hallway, water poured forth, flooding the pathway and heading towards the chamber. The same occurred in every hallway but the one behind him, and Naruto turned to run. The water poured forth even faster, chasing after Naruto as his feet pounded further into the dungeon.

He felt liked hours had passed as his feet continued to pound away, the water growing ever closer. Soon though, a doorway appeared in the distance, and Naruto pushed forth even harder. Now feeling the liquid beneath his heels, Naruto jumped for the doors, listening as they slammed shut behind him, stopping the water's advance. Turning, the blond ninja noticed the door's frame and body—both mahogany—glowed a light orange. An enchanting voice caused him to turn again, his eyes meeting those of a grown woman.

"Hello Naruto-sama…" Naruto gawked at the beautiful woman, who wore a simple kimono with a flower design laced into the cloth. Her hair was a fiery orange with streaks of yellow—and grew to about mid back—while her eyes were a lighter shade of red. "Please," the woman stepped back, revealing two chaise lounge chairs, "Take a seat Naruto-sama."

Naruto moved slowly at first, wondering why he trusted to woman so thoroughly. It was almost as if he had always known her, but he knew they had never met. Sitting down and putting his legs up, the woman mimicked Naruto, each character tilted a bit to the side to face the other. The blond ninja spoke uneasily, glancing around again. "Where am I?"

"This, Naruto-sama, is your subconscious…" Naruto nodded, continuing to glance about the area, finally resting his eyes back on the mysterious woman.

"…And I am the Kyuubi no Youko. You can call me Kyuubi-chan."

Naruto's expression immediately changed to one of distrust and fear, but the smiling woman was too reassuring to resist. "You can't be the Kyuubi no Youko. The Kyuubi is a demonic kitsune, a nine-tailed spirit…"

"I am as you see me Naruto-sama…this is my manifested human form. Think about it, you do not look the same either as you have noticed. These images are but what we think of ourselves. Your image is your own vision of your future. Mine is of a human form." Naruto threw her another glare, as another voice cut into the conversation.

"She speaks the truth Naruto-kun…" Naruto whipped his head to the right to watch a man emerge from the darkness. The man was a bit shorter than Naruto, with broad shoulders and thick arms and legs. He wore the battle attire similar to a samurai, with armor on his torso, upper arms, and upper legs. The armor was a dark green, which contrasted his white undergarments. His hair was a deep red, and hung just below his shoulders. His face bore a wide nose, and thin lips, and green eyes that matched his armor. "She is the Kyuubi no Youko, as she says."

Naruto was surprised to say the least at the other man's entrance, and began to rise to greet him. "Gamabunta-sama! What are you doing here?"

"You tell me kid, this is your mind not mine. I told you when you signed the Toad Contract, I would forever be connected with you…as long as you upheld the contract." Naruto smiled at the entrance of a friend, and hugged the man.

"I have not seen you in this form since the time I signed the contract! But nevertheless, it is good to see you." Gamabunta smiled, but the conversation between the two was interrupted by a familiar female voice.

"Naruto-sama…I have not brought you here on a whim, I have an important matter to discuss with you. Do you remember what happened before you landed here in your subconscious?" Naruto shook his head to imply 'no,' and Kyuubi continued, "You had engaged Sasuke-kun in a battle on the rooftop of Konoha's hospital. Right before your Rasengan was going to strike his Chidori, Sakura-chan got in between you. You pushed your Rasengan to the side, successfully pushing Sakura-chan back to safety…but as a result, you took a serious blow to your chest from the Chidori…you almost didn't make it Naruto-sama…" Naruto's face became serious was he listened, a grimace forming over his usual cheery disposition.

"If it hadn't been for Jiraiya-sama, Naruto-kun, you wouldn't be alive," Gamabunta chimed in, continuing the tale.

"So…am I dead?"

"No Naruto-sama…you are alive for now…in fact, Gamabunta and I—mostly I—are the only thing keeping you from waking up right now." Naruto scowled at the comment, and threw the pair a glare.

"Well let me wake up now! Why are you forcing me to stay here?"

Kyuubi smiled, and motioned for the boy to sit. "As I said Naruto-sama, there is an issue we need to address. Please, do sit." Naruto took a seat, and another chair—a recliner—appeared for Gamabunta. "Well Naruto-sama, when you took the Chidori to the chest, Tsunade-sama helped to heal a significant amount of the damage…but before we had even arrived at the Hokage's office, I had already begun the process of healing your wounds. Unfortunately, your wounds were very serious, and I was unable to successfully heal them myself; had this been a real battle situation…you would have died." Naruto nodded, looking off to the side for a moment.

"I wanted to bring you here to discuss your seal. Working to save your life put a huge strain on my chakra, Naruto-sama, because of your seal. The seal on your stomach is the most complex seal I have ever seen a human design. Almost one hundred layers—inlets, outlets, twelve conversion seals, with matching reconfiguration seals, eight distributor seals, eight balancing seals, and sixteen interlocking caging seals, just to name a few. These seals all have their own functions. For example, the reconfiguration seals were placed in order to reconstruct your body—and more specifically your chakra coils—to fit my prescience. They constantly drain my chakra and feed it into your seal slowly, so that it enters your system as your own chakra. Over time this has expanded your coils so that even without me, you have an extremely large chakra capacity. But in addition to all these seals, there is something called an opening seal. The opening seal is the very first chakra channeling seal overtop of the basic caging, Hakke no Fuuin Shiki, and Shiki Fuujin Sealing Techniques.

The Opening Seal is like a door, per se…imagine this: the opening seal is a door, which has been opened a very small amount. This seal allows a small amount of my demonic chakra to flow into your system and body. This chakra is not filtered through the usual seals, and enters your system in the exact same state that it leaves mine. This seal's function is dual faceted. First, the seal allows your body's cells to become accustomed to my chakra. Essentially preparing you for the second function. At certain times, your body is able to call upon and use my chakra, either consciously or unconsciously. You may remember your battle on the bridge with Haku-san. This is an example of an unconscious call for chakra. In times of great emotional distress, the chemicals released by your endocrine system activate the opening seal. The reason you have trouble controlling yourself at these times, are because of the effects of my chakra on your body. Demonic chakra enhances a persons primal instincts and functions, as well as accelerating their cell production, muscular performance, among other things. Your body is only so prepared for my chakra, because of the small amount of chakra leaking through the opening seal and your limited experience with it. One way you can get better at controlling my chakra is simply by using it more, and learning to control when it is released (i.e., consciously calling on my chakra). The other way is by modifying the opening seal.

Now, opening seals have different 'levels,' or varying degrees of the opening's size. Your opening seal is at the lowest level, but you can change that. With my guidance, I can have you unlock the opening seal to the next level, allowing more of my chakra to flow into your body. This makes everything easier in a sense. With a bigger opening, more of my chakra can get to you faster. This will accelerate your healing ability, allow you greater control of your 'demonic state' and more demonic chakra will be converted into your own." Naruto remained silent as Kyuubi paused, the woman looking over the boy's expression.

Silence reigned for a few moments as Naruto took in all the new information. The rambunctious 'knucklehead' had become the cool and calculating man before her.

"This is too good to be true. What's the catch?" Kyuubi nodded, continuing.

"It is true, there is a catch. This further opening will have a drastic toll on your body Naruto-sama. The massive influx of my chakra will force you to inherit more of my appearances—painfully to say the least. The whiskers on your face are the mark of stage one…if we were to open the seal to stage three, I am unsure of what could change: your hair, eyes, body stature, etc."

Naruto cut her off as she moved to continue. "How do I know this isn't all just a trick? How do I know you're not making this all up?"

Gamabunta, having awoken from his nap, spoke up: "Its all true Naruto-sama, every word. I have been around a long time kid…my interests have peaked in many things, including sealing. How do you think animal summoning scrolls were made? By humans? Don't be ridiculous!" The toad-man chuckled. "I taught Jiraiya a lot of what he knew, and he taught the Yondaime." Naruto nodded, having learned of the Yondiame's ability to summon the toads.

"When it comes to my own life Naruto-sama, I don't joke around, and I most definitely don't lie." Naruto looked confused, before she continued. "The interlocking caging seals I spoke of serve as a 'last resort' of sorts. They activate when you die, performing a modified version of the Shiki Fuujin. (Corpse Spirit Sealing Method) If you die, then, in a sense, so do I…why do you think I always healed your injuries?" Kyuubi rose, and began to walk back into the darkness as Naruto's eyes met Gamabunta's. She called back over her shoulders, "I will give you time to think it over Naruto-sama." Naruto saw the reassurance in Gamabunta's green eyes, and fell deep into thought…

ooOOoo

Naruto's pulse continued to skyrocket as Tsunade and the other medics attempted to calm the seizure. "Get some restraints on him stat!" Two medics rushed off to find straps as Tsunade pushed chakra into her hands. Stepping forward, she ran a diagnostic. "Multiple bones throughout body breaking and reforming. Ribcage, both femurs, both arms' ulna and radius-"

The Hokage's sentence was cut short by another burst of demonic chakra, toppled the furniture in the room and sent the remaining medic, and Tsunade to the floor again. Naruto arched his back in pain as multiple bones could be heard shifting and breaking. The chakra came in waves now, overflowing the area and condensing the air. Another pop could be heard as the boy's chin adjusted itself, and his canines grew to fit the new room. Slowly, his hair began to grow and change color, coming to a halt at his mid back, and projecting a dark orange. The boy's eyes shot open as his irises quickly flipped between orange and blue. Small seals of differing designs began to spread across Naruto's body, almost 'sealing' the change into him. As they reached his eyes, they settled on a deep blue. As quickly as the seals had spread across his whole body, they faded from view, and Naruto fell back against his bed. The condensed air erupted as the restraints were lifted, and shot outward—the gust sending the ninja back against the walls.

Tsuande rose to meet a standing Naruto, steam rolling off his skin. He now stood at about six foot three, and two hundred pounds of solid muscle. The chakra had heightened his muscle cell growth, and his lean body had become a well-chiseled machine. Naruto opened his eyes to reveal a piercing blue—contrasting with his orange hair, which hung close to his waist. The boy's nails had grown a bit, and sharpened down into miniature claws.

The blond Hokage gasped in surprise, barely mustering any words to the boy's naked figure. "…Na-Naruto-kun…?" Naruto answered her question with a stare, and so she continued. "What happened?"

Looking around, the boy noticed the sick medics only a few feet away, who were doubled over and vomiting. It was only then that he realized the palpable amount of demonic chakra he was radiating. With a bit of concentration, he closed off his subconscious usage of the Kyuubi's chakra.

In a flash, the boy was pinned against the wall, Jiraiya having appeared from thin air. "Are you in control Naruto-kun?" yelled the Sannin. Naruto felt a kunai prick his neck, and he nodded slowly. Jiraiya backed away and stowed his weapon before looking over the boy's new exterior. It was then that the boy disappeared from view, reappearing near the supply closet and pulling on a pair of extra scrubs.

_"So fast!"_

After he was dressed, the boy turned towards his Hokage and his sensei.

"I think it's time to talk…"

ooOOoo

"Gamabunta-sama told me something like this might happen, but he didn't specify as to how drastic the changes would be…"

Naruto nodded at Jiraiya's comment. The trio stood in an empty office at the hospital, which had been reinforced with a makeshift privacy jutsu for this conversation.

Tsunade had remained silent the entire time, listening intently to what Naruto had to say. When it was over, she rose slowly and stretched.

"Well, I think we've all spent a little too much time in the hospital for today. As long as you are in control Naruto-kun, technically you are in perfect health. I'll sign you out on my way back to the tower." With a nod, Naruto left the room.

After the boy left, Tsunade simply turned to Jiraiya.

"Well, as far as I can tell, everything he said is true. I helped Minato-kun with the seal, specifically with designing the opening seal. It's purpose was, over time, to allow Naruto-kun to absorb the Kyuubi's chakra almost entirely…I just didn't expect him to figure all this out on his own…"

Tsunade nodded. "Well, lets hope that he isn't too much different…"

ooOOoo

The light glaring down from the sun gleamed through the glass of the tailor's door as it opened, revealing a man entering the streets of Konoha. Said man wore a long crimson cloak, stretching to a few inches off the ground and looking the color of blood. Through the open front, a bystander might see his clothes underneath. He wore the most basic form of Konoha ninja pants, which were dark green. The bottom of these pants were held in place by a set of bandages that ran to the figures feet, covered by his sandals, which were green as well. He wore bandages covering most of his upper torso, as well as both his arms, over which he wore a form fitting green t-shirt. He also wore a more basic form of the ANBU attack gear, which was made up of a flak jacket and flak wrist guards. Around his waist and diagonal across his chest were straps, obviously made to hold various forms of ninja weapons and gear. His face bore the same, skintight mask as his sensei, while his long orange hair flowed freely behind him. A slight reflection was sent off the small metal buckles on his utility straps, and his hitai-ate, which held back his unruly hair.

He enjoyed the new clothes, and the anonymity that his transformation had brought. In truth, he had never particularly loved the color orange. In fact, if anything, it was one of his least favorite. However, the old, hand-me-down jumpsuit from the local thrift shop was the only outfit he had ever been able to purchase.

_"Everyone else just ran me out of their shops…"_

Now, he wore an outfit more fitting of a ninja, and in his bag he carried a few duplicates, mostly in the same color, with one in black and one in blue. His coat screamed typical Naruto. He could remove it when he needed stealth, but in most battles he might as well be the most obnoxious person around. Strolling through the grid streets of the village, he noticed the respectful glances he was receiving from the villagers. The hitai-ate displayed to all that he was a shinobi; a noble warrior; a defender of their lifestyle. Although there was no caste system or ranking in Konoha, people generally knew their place. The more affluent sat at the top of society while the less wealthy inhabited the bottom. Shinobi were a totally different class of people.

Being a shinobi was not the best career choice economically, but socially, these ninja were respected as the highest of society. Any person wearing a hitai-ate was to be treated with the utmost respect, and most social laws did not apply. It was not uncommon to see underage chunin drinking sake or gambling at a local club. If you were old enough to fight, and die, for your village, you were old enough to do a lot of things.

_"They don't recognize me…they just recognize the headband…"_

Although it was a nice reprieve from the usual glares, Naruto knew this reverence would not last.

"It's only a matter of time before word spreads of my transformation…it won't be surprising if they hate me more after that…"

With a leap, the shinobi was gone, bounding across rooftops towards his apartment. If it weren't for his new enhanced senses, he wouldn't have picked up on the ANBU team trailing him.

ooOOoo

"They're moving again…" Tsunade sighed, looking up from the papers that littered her desk to the face of her old teammate.

"Who are we talking about again?" joked Tsunade.

Jiraiya didn't laugh, and simply rose to his full height. "Akatsuki."

Tsunade's face darkened and she leaned back, throwing her pen back onto her desk.

"So we'll up the security, increase the patrols, they won't be able-"

Jiraiya cut her off with a wave of his hand. "It won't be enough. There's nothing we can do to stop them from marching straight through the village for Naruto-kun. I don't have much information, but a group composed of entirely S-class missing-nin, all on par with Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame?" Tsunade paused, waiting for him to continue.

"My sources have indicated that jinchuuriki have been disappearing from the other hidden villages. A few months ago, Iwagakure went to find one of their old weapons. When they came upon where he had been living, the destruction was immense, and the jinchuuriki was gone. From what I could gather, it appears that three jinchuuriki have been captured, two in the past seven months. I have a feeling they're going to wait to come for Naruto-kun, because of you and me. Many of the other containers were abandoned by their village or live apart from society, so Akatsuki will probably take these ones out first." Tsunade nodded, leaning further back into her chair.

"So what do you propose were do?"

Jiraiya smiled as he produced a scroll from his jacket, and laid it on Tsunade's desk.


	4. Arc One Chapter One: Departure

Arc One: Seclusions of a Toad Sage!

Chapter One: Departure

"So where is this 'My-you-book-ooh'?"

"Myouboku—Myouboku Mountain. It's the sacred ground of the toads on this plane. It's location is hidden to all except those of us who the toads have chosen, and without knowledge of the route it would be impossible to find. It would take us a month to get there on foot, but as I said, it is our final destination. We have much training to accomplish before we even consider heading to The Mountain."

Naruto nodded as he rose from the edge of his bed, looking out the window of his apartment at the streets below.

"When do we leave?"

"Tsunade-chan has given us permission to leave as soon as we can. I have a few things to take care of first, but we can leave first thing tomorrow morning. I suggest in that time you should go and pick up new gear. This will be a long journey, and I don't know when we will be able to stop for supplies again."

Nodding, Naruto stretched his back, and turned back towards his sensei. With his trademark smile, he scratched the back of his head. "I better get ready then!"

ooOOoo

Placing, the final seal, Jiraiya stepped back and looked at his handwork. At the base of Naruto's skull, right over the spinal cord, laid a seal, tattooed onto the skin.

"So what exactly is this thing? Naruto stood up and stretched, sore from his lack of recent movement.

"It's a Nouzui Gokan Seal (Brain Stem Seal), something of a work of genius if I may say so myself!" Naruto laughed at the Toad Sage's victorious expression. "Don't laugh! This is a revolutionary thing! Soon people everywhere will be begging for me to design them!" Naruto reduced his laugh to a chuckle, unable to take his sensei's antics seriously.

"So what does it do?"

"Well, first I have to explain where I got the idea. A long time ago, the toads, who are seal masters themselves, delved into an area of sealing that so far had been untouched. They wanted to work with using seals to enhance one's training. As you can imagine, working muscles for toads is quite difficult. Lifting weights is out of the question, and attaching weights to their limbs became too cumbersome. Eventually, after much a long time working, the elders designed a seal that they could place onto their soldiers as they trained. This seal would draw on the chakra of the toad, and become heavier over time. The seal was placed on the mid-back of the toad, and as the toad's body became more accustomed to the downward force, the seal would scale up the weight."

Naruto nodded, and picked at the fish that sat over their campfire. "But what does this seal have to do with me? A seal like that wouldn't work on humans, it would just screw up their muscle systems by creating too much force in one spot."

Jiraiya laughed, surprised by the boy's knowledge. "Yes, that's what I assumed, so I began to do some research. People have been using seals to interact with human's genetics and muscle growth for years. It's possible to place seals over specific muscle groups in order to avoid the usage of bulky weights. Clans have used impression seals to bind characteristics to their offspring, and other seals are placed on dangerous convicts to shut down certain cerebral functions.

"It was through this research that I came up with the idea for the Nouzui Gokan Seal (Brain Stem Seal). The Nouzui Gokan Seal (Brain Stem Seal) interacts directly with your central nervous system in order to help train your muscles. I have designed seventy overlapping and interacting seals that tap into your nervous system, and intercept the messages being sent to your voluntary muscles. Working from the original design of the toad's Oshi Seal (Pressure Seal), this seal draws from your own chakra to create a weight on your muscles. The upside to this seal is that it avoids having to place seals all over your body, or wear large weight sets. Also, it 'places' an equal weight proportionally on all of your voluntary muscles. This allows you to work those muscles that weight sets or seals would miss."

Naruto nodded taking another bite of the fish. "Well…are you sure it's working? Cause I don't really feel any heavier…"

Jiraiya laughed as he gulped down another sip of water. "Yes, it's working. All it's doing is testing you to see what your body can handle. It will keep adjusting the weight until you become consciously aware of a difficulty with movement. Then it'll let your muscles become accustomed to that strain."

"So how do I release it if I need to? I mean, what if I need the boost in speed or something?"

Jiraiya smirked as he moved towards his tent. "I'll tell you some other time…"

ooOOoo

The following days had been slow progress for the group, Naruto's muscles straining to become accustomed to the new weight. By the second week, he was moving at a quick enough pace to silence the taunts of Jiraiya, and by the third, his full range of motion and speed was returning to its previous levels. Jiraiya knew that the Kyuubi's influence had something to do with the rapid expansion of Naruto's strength, but chose to silence his concerns. Looking up from his dinner, he noticed Naruto had spoken.

"I asked what the purpose of this training mission was sensei."

Jiraiya paused before answering. "The purpose of this mission is the same as the purpose of any training mission: to make you stronger than ever before." Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but Jiraiya held up his hand. "What you're really curious about is why we left in such a hurry, or the secrecy of the mission for that matter." Naruto nodded, and Jiraiya sighed. "I knew you would ask eventually." Sipping his tea, he looked off into the dense forest surrounding them.

"Before our mission to recover Tsunade-sama, you recall running into those fugitives, yes? The ones in matching outfits." Naruto nodded. "You already know by now that one of them was Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke-kun's brother. The other's name is Hoshigaki Kisame, a nin from Kirigakure. They are both members of a powerful organization known as Akatsuki. The organization contains some of the most powerful ninja in the world from my sources. Even Orochimaru-san was a member at one point. I don't have much information on the other members, but we can assume they are on the same level or higher than that of Itachi-san and Kisame-san. No one seems to know how long they've been around, and I only have a few guesses about who the other members could be. There are not that many S-Class missing-nin left alive who are of that sort of caliber."

"But what do they want with me?"

"It's not so much what they want with you, but what they want with what's inside of you Naruto-kun. Their plans involved the nine bijuu in some form, but as to the reason for capturing the containers, I do not know. I brought you away from Konoha to train Naruto-kun, so that when they come for you, you will be ready for anything they have to send." Jiraiya paused and stared into the fire. It was a few minutes before he spoke again, his mind clearly distant from the campsite. "These aren't your regular, movie-type villains Naruto-kun…they will stop at nothing to get to you, even if that means killing a whole lot of people. There won't be any final honorable showdowns between you and Akatsuki." Jiraiya looked at his student, his eyes sad with memory. "You'll be the only one who can stand in their way."

Naruto nodded, pushing his food around on his plate with a fork. They were coming for him. He needed to be ready.

ooOOoo

The test was one of patience and persistence, as well as concentration. One had to be aware of one's surroundings, but distance themselves from the worldly concerns of discomfort or stress. Naruto's transformation from boy to man in the span of minutes had come with an upgrade in his senses. The literal senses were the most obvious—much like his fox demon he could smell things much more clearly, and whispers a mile off resounded like explosions. But these senses were more of a nuisance than a tool at the moment, as he had yet to find out how to 'dial them down.' The beetle landing on a leaf twenty meters away was as much of a distraction as the pounding waterfall behind him.

But less obvious was a transformation in his innate senses. That feeling that creeps into someone's gut or the chills one gets in their spine aren't random occurrences. Your subconscious picks up on signs of danger or other disturbances that your conscious can sometimes overlook as happenstance and coincidence. In the wild, brushing off such details as trivial annoyances leads to perilous ends, and because of the Kyuubi's influence, Naruto had become much more tuned into the world around him.

The test was never about physical prowess or jutsu manipulation, as others had been. The assignment had been simple.

"_Remain silent and still until you sense danger."_

One of the most important abilities a shinobi can obtain is the ability to sense his opponents. Because every living thing has chakra, everyone can inherently sense the usage of such forces when the levels of chakra in question are in considerable amount. For example, civilians could sense a battle between two high level ninja as easily as a shinobi, especially if the fight is intense. However, a battle between mid class shinobi or samurai might be a bit more difficult for a civilian to detect without the proper concentration.

Along with this sense of detection comes the ability to hide one's presence. The diminishing of one's effect on the world around them becomes more difficult the greater of a chakra capacity one has. However, ninja with chakra capacities large enough to make them difficult to hide are typically well experienced in the shinobi world, and have little trouble disguising their presence. This, however, was not the case for Naruto. Because of his situation, his chakra capacity was nearly impossible to hide, and he would always have trouble disguising his presence from enemy ninja.

It was because of this that many training decisions were made by Jiraiya for Naruto specifically. The training sessions began with strictly taijutsu, which despite genjutsu, was the weakest of the three disciplines Naruto had been trained in thus far. Jiraiya's travels had exposed him to many types of hand-to-hand combat, which varied from stealth kills to incredibly destructive techniques. The Toad Sage had assumed that since Naruto would never be able to hide from his enemies, he better be well prepared to face anyone and come out on top. The first form Naruto worked with was Aikido, which concentrates on redirecting the opponent's attacks as opposed to attacking outright. This style is used in conjunction with many forms of kenjutsu, but also increases flexibility, elasticity and endurance—which would prepare Naruto for further training.

The second stage of taijutsu training consisted of the introduction of Judo. Judo concentrates mostly on grappling, joint locks, or throws which will force an opponent to the ground or otherwise subdue them. Another form that concentrates on the defensive, Judo offensive techniques involve a few hand thrusts and strikes, but most offensive maneuvers are saved for more brutal forms of taijutsu. It is from this overarching technique (along with a combination of the practice of Taekwondo) that the Gentle Fist style utilized by Lee-san and Gai-san evolved.

The final stage of his training involved in depth studies of Taekwondo. Mainly concentrating on the offensive, Taekwondo maneuvers involve series of kicks, spins and powerful hand strikes to disable an opponent. This style concentrates on speed, which is why Jiraiya developed it last. Because both Aikido and Judo help to strengthen muscles and build flexibility, one's body can easily become prepared for the training involved in Taekwondo. However, the execution of its techniques requires more than physical strength. One's speed and stamina must be high enough to remain involved in sparring matches and combat.

Of course, more than physical ability arises from training in the martial arts. It was not long until Naruto realized that the original masters sought to train their mind and soul through the training of their body. The original purposes of such techniques were not for combat, but self-renewal. All styles of martial arts are ultimately a strive for personal cleansing and peace with one's own form. The arts demand not only physical prowess, but also mental stability and inner peace.

It was after this revelation that Naruto began the practice of meditation. Now that Naruto's body had become fit and able, he knew he would have the strength to train his mind. His lack of patience and concentration would be considered to be poisonous in the shinobi world, where one false step or rash action could mean the end of a life.

It was through this practice that Naruto arrived at the waterfall.

"_A ripple!"_ Naruto launched himself from the surface of the water, and hovered for a moment twenty meters in the air. An instant later, a figure burst from the lake, and stood calmly on its surface.

"That was good Naruto-kun, better than last time. You had plenty of time to clear away before I would have been able to attack, which means you also had ample time to counter."

"But countering an attack blind could prove to be fatal." Naruto said as he landed, smiling at his sensei.

"That is true," Jiraiya said between chuckles. "But so can lowering your guard."

Naruto flinched as he felt the cold steel against his neck. Somehow the Old Man had slipped past him and fooled him with a simple clone.

'Jiraiya' dispersed into a pile of mud, which disappeared underneath the surface of the water, and the kunai at Naruto's neck was withdrawn.

"You're still too lax as soon as the exercise ends. You haven't learned the most important lesson: life is a battlefield. One minute everything is fine and the next you're surrounded. This is what we do Naruto-kun, and this is how elite ninja operate. No one is going to land in front of you and announce your presence without you being able to sense them first. The truly skilled kill without ever being seen. That is the way of the shinobi."

"Well then what is the point of jutsu like the Rasengan or Chidori. Those techniques are the furthest thing from clandestine."

"Well there will always be times when your opponent is skilled enough that sneaking up on them will not be an option. In those cases, drawn out battles of intense jutsu are not uncommon. Not to mention, when dealing with shinobi such as yourself, sometimes secrecy needs to be discarded for destructive power." Naruto nodded as Jiraiya continued,

"There's also a psychological aspect to warfare, but that's a totally different topic. We can work on that after you finish the Nidaime Raikage's scrolls on blitzkrieg tactics."

ooOOoo

Naruto parried the quick strikes Jiraiya was using to force him backwards, his feet losing the strong base they had before.

The style Jiraiya was teaching him was one known only to the Wisatibu samurai from the far west. It centered on a strong connection with the ground, the most solid of any foundation. Through this strong foundation—a connection to a greater living organism—one could channel their own chakra as well as the chakra of the living things around them.

The scattered samurai clans represented a former way of life before the coming of shinobi. They lived their life by their Bushido, or code. The code stressed loyalty, frugality, mastery of martial arts, obedience and self-sacrifice. It was through meditation and their strive for perfection of the art of warfare that the samurai discovered the essence of chakra—the force which connects all living things. This force could be used to strengthen one's muscles and train one's body, as well as reinforce their attacks or reinvigorate their mind.

So while shinobi used chakra to manipulate the world around them, samurai used chakra as primarily as possible—brute energy.

Naruto leaped and spun, landing a few meters behind his sensei. After turning towards Jiraiya, he centered himself, and swung his blade through the air. The air around the sword condensed, and a visible blade of chakra was unleashed. The Toad Sage rolled out of the way and unleashed his own attack, a sweeping arch of chakra, towards Naruto. The boy leapt over the attack, which sliced a few inches into a tree trunk behind him. Landing, Naruto began his zigzag approach to his sensei, dodging swipes of chakra as he ran.

ooOOoo

Naruto's muscles ached as he pounded through the remaining pushups. Jiraiya had him doing dual-benefit workouts, such as doing pushups upside down while using chakra to hold onto the tree branch, or running through the forest with a blindfold. These workouts served not only to save time, but to allow him to concentrate on more than one thing at a time. There are essentially two types of cognitive processing: dual and serial. Dual processing allows one the ability to perform two tasks at once, such as listening to music and dancing. Serial processing is used when tasks must be preformed one at a time, such as reading a book. The idea behind these training exercises were to expand his understanding of dual processing—and essentially allow him to be on guard at all times, even while concentrating on other activities. He claimed this would be useful once Ataksuki started their hunt again.

"Alright that's enough, now hop down and lets begin."

The boy landed and faced his sensei—well, both of his sensei. There were now two Jiraiya standing before him, each an identical copy of the other. Naruto fell back into a basic Judo position, one hand near his waist for balance, the other stretched out and facing his opponents. The three stood in silence for a few moments before Naruto disappeared, a dust cloud rippling behind him. The boy's foot connected with one of the clones, and sent it flying. Using his momentum, Naruto spun from the connected kick, and threw a fist at the other clone. But this Jiraiya was ready, and kicked off backwards, forming handseals.

"Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" The old man brought a tiger seal to his mouth and let loose a stream of flames towards Naruto.

The boy disappeared again, moving too quick for a normal human's eye to see. But Jiraiya was a Sannin, and no normal human. The Toad Sage caught Naruto's foot and spun, launching the boy.

The Jiraiya clone erupted from the forest and met Naruto in the air, engaging in a series of kicks and blocks. The fighting pair landed as the other Jiraiya entered the fray. Naruto began repelling attacks from both sides, using his flexibility and agility to narrowly avoid some attacks.

Suddenly, one clone became much more aggressive, and drew a tanto from it's coat. The copy began to slash at the orange ninja, who used chakra to reinforce his skin and stop the blade from cutting him open. It was almost too late before Naruto noticed the other clone had formed a Rasengan, and it was aimed straight for his head.

Ducking, Naruto swept the tanto wielding clone's feet from under him and grabbed the doppelganger by the coat. Continuing his spin, he brought one clone around to face the other, and used his new human shield to absorb the Rasengan.

The cloud of smoke clear from a gust of wind, Naruto's speed cracking the ground below him. His punch erupted straight through Jiraiya's heart, and broke through the other side of the chest cavity. The second clone disappeared as the first had, and Naruto stood victorious.

"That was good Naruto." Jiraiya appeared from the tree line. "You stayed within the boundary of the rules—taijutsu only—and you took out the clones very professionally. I honestly thought you had let your guard down when my clone was charging with a Rasengan. But that was just a trick, right? To lure me in?"

Jiraiya's only response was a smirk as Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"Well, nonetheless, it was well executed. Now…again."

ooOOoo

Naruto smiled as the lady behind the counter handed over the bag of supplies. She was pretty in a classical sense—soft skin and sharp features, with bright green eyes and blonde hair—and she was definitely interested in Naruto.

The boy merely thanked her as he exited, chuckling as he sensed her eyes on him. The boy had grown immensely over the past few months on the road with his sensei. But the growth wasn't strictly physical. Naruto had read countless scrolls and textbooks about tactics and warfare, as well as the cultures of the many nations. He remembered how Iruka had lectured that knowing your opponent was 90% percent of the battle, and Jiraiya agreed. That was why the old man had set up such an extensive network of spies and informants. The more he knew about his enemies, the weaker they became.

However, Naruto's enemies were a bit more formidable. Their weaknesses were not as clear-cut as one might assume. For example, Itachi's bloodline had allowed him to become skilled in hundreds, if not thousands of jutsu, and easily every element. In the blink of an eye the boy could copy an entire master's technique in taijutsu, or counter any genjutsu. There were rumors that the Sharingan had power over the Jinchuuriki as well. It appeared the only weakness Itachi had was time. Eventually his eyes would wear down and his vision would fade. But after studying the great ninja of the past decades, Naruto noticed that losing his sight would barely be a speed bump for a ninja of Itachi's caliber. Many great ninja could fight on sound and smell alone, and it was doubtful that Itachi could not match such performance.

But this Uchiha was simply the first of many in Ataksuki. Jiraiya had informed Naruto that there were rumors some members could bend space and matter, and phase in and out of existence. Even after scouring scrolls, Naruto could not find any mention of such bloodline abilities, which made these rumors even more dangerous.

However Naruto was learning, and quickly. Jiraiya always mentioned how soon he would be on par with himself, and maybe could defend himself in a fight against the Akatsuki. But Naruto knew the old man was nervous. His studies into body language and the human psyche had allowed him a brief glimpse into Jiraiya's thoughts. The man was afraid—afraid that he would not be there to help Naruto stop the Akatsuki.

ooOOoo

"We're heading to Kumogakure, the city hidden in the clouds." Jiraiya bit into an apple he had picked as he walked, the path before them completely open with possibilities.

"What's waiting for us there?"

"I have a few friends in the city from my travels and information network. We're going to stay with them for a few months while I search out an old acquaintance of mine. He's going to help you work on mastering the Kyuubi's chakra."

"Why can't you help me with that?"

Jiraiya paused and threw the finished apple core into the forest.

"Because I'm not a Jinchuuriki."

ooOOoo

Kumogakure is built into the side of the tallest mountain in Lightning Country, and spans from the peak all the way to the base. The city is carved into one side of the mountain, while the other remains in its original form. Approach to the city from behind is treacherous and near impossible, and thousands of soldiers have lost their lives marching on the great city by this path. Back when the country was first founded and the samurai and shinobi clans warred on each other, the trails to the city from the base were booby trapped and destroyed, and towers were built near the peak. These towers served as defensive structures, where lookouts can see for miles above the landscape.

The front of the mountain contains the bustling city, which faces Lake Aeishu, the largest body of water in the Lightning Country. Access to the city is regulated by the Guisheru Clan, as it has since the city's founding. The Guisheru Clan have always acted as the city police, and handle all cargo and population movements from one side of the lake to the other. Colossal boats run by electrically charged engines carry everything from weapons to crops from the outlying settlements into the city. Kumo functions much like a feudal system. At the top of the system is the Raikage, the strongest and wisest shinobi—chosen from the ranks of available servicemen. The Raikage appoints leaders from local areas in twelve surrounding districts. These leaders are tasked with collecting crops or supplies from their district and shipping them to the city. In return, Kumo provides military protection and economic stability.

Structurally, the city itself is a work of contemporary engineering. In the center of the city (the direct center of the mountain face) is the power plant. Hollowed out mountain provides protection from attacks and any sabotage, and great turbines churn out electricity to power the metropolis. Directly above the plant lies the Raikage's fortress, which is also enclosed in a hollowed out portion of the mountain. This hollowed out area resides behind layers of mountain wall, but encompasses most of the upper half of the mountain. Within the hidden fortress are the shinobi barracks and private training grounds, as well as the shinobi academy, the Raikage's residence and hundreds of supply dens. All weapons crafting is done inside the fortress. From here, tunnels span across the city, and allow the transportation of troops and commands easily. The design was to allow the fighting faction of the population to hole up inside the mountain and live for years in cases of war and siege (a design which has become useful many times in the past).

The shinobi population of Kumo lives mostly in secrecy. The city prides itself in the quality of it's ninja, over the quantity. Once selected, children are removed from their families and made to live within the fortress all throughout their training. This segregation, along with the most intense training of any of the shinobi nations, produces some of the most skilled ninja in the world. Being a shinobi in Kumo is akin to being in another class. Shinobi are provided for above all other citizens, and command authority over any civilian. Stoic, powerful, silent and deadly, Kumo ninja perform with fierce accuracy and unparalleled results. The one drawback, however, is in quantity. Kumo's children are screened at the age of six to determine whether they will enter the shinobi profession, and only a select few make it past the preliminary tests that qualify them to move into the fortress. The shinobi population is significantly smaller than any of the other nations'; as such, they generate less revenue. This is why shinobi are not paid for their service. Instead, all of the ninja's means are met, and all money collected from missions is put directly into the city's economy.

The city receives its name from the great billowy clouds that cover the peak of the mountain. On stormy days, when the sky is covered for miles in clouds, it is near impossible to distinguish the city from the rest of the mountain chain. Kumo has seen its share of turmoil in the past. Between the destruction caused by many wars between shinobi clans and the large samurai population, and the attacks of two demons, the city has been reconstructed many times over.

Naruto looked out over the lake and the surrounding lands, trying to absorb everything he was seeing. This land was beautiful. Unlike his homeland, which was dominated by mostly forest, the lands surrounding Kumo supported multiple ecosystems—wetlands, marshes, forests, plains—each lived in harmony in Lightning Country. Looking down the almost straight face of the city, the flickering lights of those still up lit up the face of the mountain. In Konoha, power was mostly generated by sun panels which covered the tops of most structures. The idea was taken from the process of photosynthesis—a process by which plants convert sunlight to energy.

In this city, however, electricity seemed to be generated from thin air. Large churning machines and great whirling engines provided for the entire city, and amazed Naruto.

"Unauthorized personnel are not supposed to be in the watchtowers." Naruto spun to see a woman standing behind him. "These are for military use only."

The woman was a bit shorter than he was, but was tall for a female. She had blonde hair that was braided and rested just below her shoulders. She bore the hitai-ate of a Kumo shinobi on her left bicep, and wore a basic set of combat armor in the standard gray. Her eyes were an icy blue and drew Naruto into her gaze, which seemed to hold no emotion. A katana ran the length of her spine, but she made no threatening moves towards the orange ninja.

Naruto had donned his simple black ninja outfit with his combat armor and weapons pouches. He wore his hitai-ate on his right arm and still bore the same mask as when he had left Konoha.

Moving towards the ledge, he nodded to the woman. "I'm sorry…I guess I just snuck up here to see the sights. I didn't mean any harm." Turning, he moved to spring over the ledge and jump to the level below, but the woman's voice stopped him.

"I didn't come up here to reprimand you…I came here to meet you, Uzumaki Naruto." At the sound of his name, Naruto turned and threw the woman a puzzled glance.

"I don't remember giving you my name, but given the way my chakra is acting, there's only one person you could be."

Moving forward, the woman leaned over the railing and looked out into the land, her eyes not on Naruto. "My name is Nii Yugito…and I am a jinchuuriki as well."

ooOOoo

Naruto could feel the chill of the rising wind as the night continued. Nii was chosen because she had been the Raikage's daughter at the time, and was expected to be the strongest model for the city. Unlike Naruto, her demon had been sealed when she was four, and similar to Gaara, had caused her much turmoil.

"I have visions, and I hear voices. Its something that my demon could do that I guess I 'inherited.' They're…they're people. People who have died. I can talk to them, see them, hear them."

Yugito's eyes met Naruto's, icy blue met ocean blue, and there was silence for a few moments.

"Everyone knows I'm this knucklehead kid who is always pulling pranks or joking about something…but, ever since I can remember, people have looked at me in a way that I can't put into words. There are only a few people who don't look at me like that, and you're one of them." Naruto paused as he directed his vision back over the surrounding lands. "You're the first person I've ever said that to…"

For the first time that night, Yugito smiled. Her hand moved to Naruto's, and clasped it between her thin fingers. They looked so fragile in his larger palms. As their eyes met, a thousand words could not describe the message that they both understood.

Suddenly, Naruto took her hand and kissed her, pulling her body against his. She returned the kiss and her arms wrapped around his muscled chest. But in an instant the kiss was over, and Naruto launched himself over the railing, landing five levels below and disappearing.

ooOOoo

Naruto laughed as his sensei was slapped in the face, the product of yet another one of his 'hey, watch this!' moments. Returning to the table defeated, the Toad Sage began to sip at his tea and the two moved on to talking about their schedule for the coming months.

"There are a few people you need to meet since we're going to be here for a while. And of course I'm going to have to contact the Raikage and inform him of our presence, although I doubt he doesn't already know. You're lucky we're here when we are. Relations between Kumo and Konoha have never been strong in the past. However, the current Raikage is a smart man. He knows his people cannot war forever. He has made it his mission to create strong ties with one or two of the great shinobi nations, in the chance of another Shinobi War." Naruto nodded as he chewed his ramen. "Anyway, getting in touch with him should give us access to the forges and training grounds, which is why we're here. Then I'm going to have to leave you on your own for a few days. I'll make sure to have the Raikage assign someone to watch over you while I'm gone."

Both ninja rose, and Jiraiya left a few notes on the table to cover the bill. "We better get started, we have a lot to do…"

ooOOoo

Naruto's feet pounded as his body parted tall reeds. Leaving the city had become easy enough once the Raikage contacted them about their stay. He had given access to the training grounds and all the amenities in the fortress, but Naruto preferred the open air.

He had spent the first few days of his freedom touring through the outlying districts and learning a bit about the culture of Kumo's people. There was another dialect here, one with which he was unfamiliar. However most everyone knew his native tongue, and welcomed him as warmly as one would an old friend. His mornings began with an early rising, usually just as the sun broke the horizon. After departing the city by the docks, he would ride the ferry to the other side of the lake before setting about his morning run. Usually a few miles would get his juices flowing enough for him to return to the fortress for some sparing. It appeared that few besides the jonin—and even then, usually only the combat specialists—could match his taijutsu skill. Although Naruto's techniques were mostly his own developments on basic styles, his speed was never something to be taken lightly. Most ninja could barely watch his fights—not because of brutality or sloppiness—but simply because they could not keep up with his movements. He had truly come far from his days as the dropout, dead last.

Naruto landed softly from his last stride, and stood silently for a moment, facing his direction of travel. It was a moment later that the wave washed over him. Any normal human, or even shinobi, would have easily been brought to sickness at the feeling. But Naruto had become used to the sensation.

"_Demonic chakra…"_

Naruto turned due east, and went into a full sprint. He flashed a few handseals, and muttered, "Kai!" Instantly Naruto's speed almost quadrupled as his Nouzui Gokan Seal (Brain Stem Seal) released. The ground shattered below his each step, leaving a distinct trail in his wake. It was not long before he came upon the source of the chakra wave, and landed on one of the few remaining tree's branches. Before him it looked as if a meteor had struck, as the tree on which he stood bordered a colossal crater. In the center, a great blue cat was raging, two tails lashing out and clearing whole patches of trees. There appeared to be a figure in the center of the chakra outline, which was writhing in pain.

"Yugito-chan?" The beast appeared to hear, as it looked directly at him. Naruto moved to call out again, before one of the great tails lashed out, and swept away his portion of the forest.

The boy jumped away, dodging a few more swipes before disappearing into the forest. _"Fuck…what am I supposed to do…Kyuubi-chan, what's going on?"_

"_It appears her seal is weakening or broken, and her demonic state has become activated without her consent…she is in agony…"_

"_Well what can we do?"_

"_If you can get close enough, I can help you use our chakra to reinforce the seal and suppress the demonic state."_

Naruto nodded to himself, and halted his run. Turning, he faced the creature before him and tensed, before disappeared. The forest where he had stood shattered and in an instant he had come within feet of the chakra beast. The monster lashed out with a paw and sliced into Naruto, searing through most of his clothing and burning his skin severely. Pressing through Naruto jumped into the beast, his burns getting worse as he moved deeper towards Yugito. Screaming through the pain, Naruto reaching towards the kneeling form of the blond jinchuuriki. His skin was peeling from his fingertips and forearms by the time he grabbed the girl's shoulder, and suddenly everything disappeared.

Naruto and Yugito fell two stories and connected with the ground brutally. The blond appeared to be fine, but Naruto was struggling to rise. The burns to his skin were extensive and intense, and the Kyuubi was having a difficult time battling the presence of another demonic chakra. Naruto forced himself to his feet and straightened his back, roaring at the intense signals of pain his brain was streaming. Bending over, he scooped up Yugito in his arms before jumping off towards Kumo. Mid-jump his eyes rolled over to white and the boy collapsed into a bloody heap.

ooOOoo

Naruto forced his eyes open against the penetrating light and blinked until his vision faded into existence. The soft noises of different sensors and murmurs in the hallway told him he was in a hospital. Shifting, he winced in pain as soreness consumed his muscles. A glance to a nearby clock told him it had been a few days since his encounter with Yugito. He was not surprised—this wasn't the first time he had been unconscious for a series of days. Sitting upright, the boy glanced around and noticed his lack of company. Obviously Jiraiya was still away on his mission, so it was not odd that he had no visitors. Rising, Naruto stretched a bit, trying to cure a bit of the soreness that now was becoming paralyzing. It was during this process that he discovered the bandages covering most of his skin.

"_I'm sorry Naruto-kun…it was the best I could do…"_

Naruto clawed at the bandages with his extended fingernails until his body was completely exposed. He didn't need a mirror to see the damage his escapade had wrecked. His entire body was littered with large scars, once perfect skin now rife with patches of light pink in differing shapes and sizes. The scars danced over the bumps of his muscular frame, but otherwise appeared benign.

"_Will they ever heal…?"_

Naruto heard what he could only assume was a sigh before the Kyuubi answered. _"Only time will answer that Naruto-kun…"_

Grabbing his belongings from the closet, Naruto moved to the window and slipped into the night.

ooOOoo

Naruto spun and sent another kick into the post, sending splinters across the training ground. The area was usually abandoned this early in the morning, and he liked to get his warm-ups mostly accomplished before the day began. Soon other ninja would be arriving and he would have plenty of sparring partners, all the village's jonin and ANBU equivalents wanting to test their skill against Naruto's style.

He noticed her immediately, not necessarily because his skills of detection were so sharp, but because of their innate connection. Her scent was not easy for him to ignore, and he couldn't blame it all on the demons.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to show yourself…"

Naruto paused and turned, looking directly into the eyes of his visitor, a woman—he realized—that he barely knew anything about.

"I'm sorry…I wanted to see you…" Yugito paused, her gaze distant. She moved closer to him, and soon was within a few feet. Rubbing her own skin, she eyed the scars which now littered Naruto's. "I…I did that…didn't I?"

Naruto glanced to his shirtless chest, and noticed again the destroyed tissue. He had still not become accustomed to their presence.

"No, not that I can recall at least." The boy smiled, and scratched the back of his head.

Yugito paused, surprised. "But before, in the forest-"

"I was attacked, by a demon. Sort of tore my skin apart a bit didn't it?" Naruto chuckled at his own joke, and turned back towards the post. "These things get boring fast…do you want to spar?"

ooOOoo

Naruto laughed as he dodged another vender, disappearing onto a nearby rooftop. Yugito was right after him though, an intense look on her face.

"I won't lose this time!" She called after him, and soon began to make gains on the boy. It was only then that she looked up and noticed Naruto's demeanor. The orange ninja was running backwards.

"Come on Yugito-chan! Is this the best you can do?" The boy laughed and turned back around, before shooting off ahead.

It had been a week since Naruto had awoke, and closer to two weeks since the boy's sensei had left the city. But Naruto knew not to worry, these clandestine outings of Jiraiya's were more than common. Most likely he was meeting an informant in a nearby village or scouting out the movements of Akatsuki.

Yugito laughed and pushed herself even harder, already knowing she didn't have a chance of winning. She barely stopped herself, though, without running into the back of her new—and only—friend. Standing in silence for a few moments, Yugito finally spoke up.

"Are you okay Naruto-kun?" Her partner had an intense look in his eyes, and he was glaring towards the gates of the city far below.

"He's here…"

Yugito paused for a moment and then felt it too—an overwhelming wave of demonic chakra. "This…this is impossible! I'm in complete control of my demon and even I don't give off waves like this…"

"This is something more than being in control, Yugito-chan. Whoever is here isn't like us—he's way beyond. Whoever is here is melded with their demon completely."

A deep voice came from behind the pair and they spun to address the new arrival.

"A good guess, that old Jiraiya's right, you've made progress."

ooOOoo


	5. Arc One Chapter Two: Reflections

Arc One: Seclusions of a Toad Sage!

Chapter Two: Reflections

Naruto eyed the new arrival cautiously, stepping between the large figure and Yugito. The older warrior just returned Naruto's gaze—or at least appeared to behind his dark glasses.

"Who are you stranger?" Naruto straightened himself to his full height, almost as tall as the man before him, and slowly began to let some of his demonic chakra leak.

"I just be a friend of a friend, with a little help to extend!" With the word extend, the man put his hand before Naruto, offering a handshake.

"It's apparent that you're one of us. But what help do you have to extend to us?"

"He's here to help you master the Kyuubis chakra Naruto-kun." Naruto spun to see Jiraiya sitting calming on the roof nearby. "It took some negotiation, but I talked to the Raikage and he has agreed to let you two train together."

Naruto turned back to the man, who bowed slightly. "My name is Bee and I'm a master of blades, as you can see!" The man gestured to his back, which held eight blades of varying length.

Turning to Jiraiya, Naruto's expression was completely flat. "Is he going to rhyme this entire time?" Naruto's eyes widened.

"Looks like he's gotten you into it too! But basically, yes, he will. It gets really annoying."

ooOOoo

Naruto's feet pounded as he struggled to keep up with Bee. They had left the city hours ago and were still traveling at full speed towards some unknown destination. Pushing a bit of extra power into his legs, he came side to side with his new sensei.

"Are we anywhere near this place?"

"You got to have patience and you will see! Just keep running and trust Killer Bee!"

Naruto rolled his eyes in disgust. "One of these days I'm going to beat the crap out of you, and then you have to stop this stupid rhyming bit."

Bee bellowed a deep laugh and turned to Naruto. "You're welcome, little one, to give it a try. But if you challenge me, you're sure to die!" Roaring with laughter, Bee shot forward again, putting distance between the pair.

_ "This is going to be a long few months…"_

ooOOoo

Naruto spun and caught the kick from Bee, his forearm racked with pain. _"These kicks are too strong to be natural, but I don't sense any chakra being added to them. What is this guy?"_

It had been three weeks since Naruto and Bee had left Kumo together, and since that time they had spent a lot of time sparring. Bee rarely spoke, and only in thought out rhymes—only adding to Naruto's frustration.

Retreating a bit, Naruto flipped backwards and landed softly before launching himself back into the fray.

"You're not bad kid, but watch your timing. Fighting like this you'll never stop my rhyming!" With a rotation Bee brought a right hook towards Naruto, who instinctively brought up an arm to block. But suddenly Bee reversed his momentum and sent an uppercut through Naruto's defenses to land squarely on his chin. The boy was rocketed backwards, and landed a few feet away on his back. Without another word, Bee turned and strode back into his cave, leaving Naruto to his thoughts.

_"I'm not nearly fast enough to beat him…but where does he get that speed? What is the point of all this?"_

"You be wondering why you can't keep up? Well let me give you a small hint, fox pup. There's one thing separating you and me, and it ain't something you can easily see."

"Enough with the riddles! You're supposed to be helping me conquer the Kyuubi, not teach me to write poetry!" Silence fell between the pair before Naruto realized what he had said. _"Conquering the Kyuubi…that's why he's so much stronger, because he has conquered his demon and become one with it…"_

Naruto turned back towards his sensei, only to see the man walking into his cave. "Wait Bee-sensei! You can't leave now!" The boy rushed into the cave after his master, and disappeared into the blackness.

ooOOoo

To any other person, the cave would be impassable. Little light came from the entrance, and after one wandered a few more yards in, the light was completely gone. But for a shinobi, especially one with Naruto's heightened senses, it may as well have been broad daylight. "Bee-sensei!" Naruto called out, wandering deeper into the cave.

The walls of the cave were perfectly rounded, as it someone had carved deep into the rock on purpose. Soon Naruto reached a break in the tunnel, with separate paths wandering in three directions. The boy stood in thought for a bit before he heard a voice coming from the right tunnel. Turning, he sped down the tunnel's winding turns and bends. It was not long before he saw a figure in the distance, standing before what appeared to be an underground waterfall. Naruto emerged from the tunnel into a cavern, flourishing with plant life. A small lake stood directly across from him, and a waterfall fell from the darkness above into the small pool. In the middle of the pool was a small island, on which stood Bee, his back to Naruto.

"Bee-sensei! I need to talk to you about the training!" Naruto walked forward, but his teacher did not respond, or react in any way that showed he had heard Naruto. "Sensei, this is important!" Naruto jumped onto the island behind Bee and grabbed him by the shoulder. Bee turned around and planted his fist right onto Naruto's chin. Naruto landed in the water surrounding them, and slowly got to his feet. "What the hell Bee-sensei! This is-"

Standing before Naruto was Naruto, but slightly different. The boy before Naruto appeared darker. The copy smirked at Naruto's expression. "Hello Naruto-kun."

ooOOoo

Naruto awoke in a deep sweat, his mind racing. _"It was just a dream…"_

Rising, he strode from his tent out into the night air. The moon was glowing high above, giving a slight luminescence to the ground around him. Glancing down, he noticed his hands were shaking. _"It felt so real…it couldn't have been a dream…"_

Looking back towards the cave entrance, Naruto shook his head. _"No, it was just a dream…you're just tired from sparring all day…" _He began to move back towards his tent, but froze at the entrance. _"I have to know for sure…"_

Dressing quickly, Naruto sped into the cave silently. He followed the same path he had taken in the dream before coming upon the cavern once more. It appeared just as it had in his sleep. Again, Bee stood on the small island before the waterfall.

"So it was real…I've been here before."

Bee turned to face the boy, and nodded. "Yes young one, it was not a dream. There are special properties about this stream. The strength to beat a demon you need, but one who is split will never succeed."

"Split…? What do you mean split?"

"Everyone has a side they don't show, sometimes even they do not know. To grow from here you must fight, the side of you that's out of sight." With that, Bee motioned to the waterfall, as if gesturing for Naruto to approach it. Moving forward slowly, Naruto waded into the water until he was inches from the stream. Looking back, Bee gestured again, and Naruto strode into the waterfall.

Naruto found himself in a world surrounded by whiteness. There was no difference between the ground or the sky, and no living things that he could see. "You've come to find me, haven't you?"

Spinning, Naruto was faced with the same boy he had faced earlier that day: himself. "Who are you? What is this place?"

The boy chuckled, his eyes dark with hatred. "This is simply a place that allows me to become corporal. As for who I am, I am you."

"That's not possible…I'm me!"

Again Naruto chuckled. "You think that you're you, but I'm the you that you don't see. I'm the Naruto that hates Konoha and dreams of its downfall; the Naruto that envisions Sakura-chan and Sasuke-kun being slaughtered by my hand. I'm the Naruto who won't take the years of torment by the villagers with a passing smile. I'm the you that you are deep inside."

"You're nothing but an imitation! A shadow of who I am! I don't believe in any of those things-"

"Oh but you do Naruto, that's the best part. Deep down you know that you hate Konoha. The smug villagers and their glares."

"That's not true! There are plenty of people I-"

"Your 'precious people'? Don't make me laugh! As if they could give a damn if you live or die! Tsunade-sama and Jiraya-sensei would probably be happier without all the trouble you cause them!"

"Shut up!" Naruto launched himself at his clone, and the two engaged in a fistfight. For every punch Naruto threw, the copy blocked. He avoided every kick, and dodged every fist, all with a smirk on his face.

"You're not getting this teme! I am you! I know every one of your moves, you won't lay a finger on me!" Naruto reared back and formed a rasengan in his hand and shoved it up towards the clone. But the clone had formed an identical attack and they canceled each other out, blowing the pair apart. Again the pair entered in combat, the result being exactly the same. The clone simply chuckled as they traded blows, never seeming to tire. "Just picture it, you know its true, When the time comes your so called friends will turn on you. They'll see you as the demon that you really are! And they will die, one by one, to your hand."

Naruto screamed with rage and assaulted his copy even harder, but still the clone persisted. "Yes! Give in to the rage!" Suddenly, the copy's moves became faster, and Naruto began to slow. The clone jumped up and spun, landing a kick on Naruto's chin and sending the boy flying. "I am your rage—your anger. I am your strength!"

Naruto skidded to a halt a few yards away, and struggled to lift himself up. Rolling onto his stomach, he tried to push himself back up, but froze when he caught sight of his necklace. Looking up, he began to fill with strength again.

"That's right Naruto-kun, come at me again! Don't I make you angry? Doesn't it make you furious to see that this is who you really are?" Naruto brought himself to an upright position, and began to laugh. "Well! What's so funny teme?"

"You." The clone was startled by the answer. "You…you don't make me angry, you don't even upset me." Naruto paused before looking up and meeting his clone's eyes. "Because you're not real. You don't exist."

"I'll show you just how real I am Uzumaki Naruto!" The clone charged Naruto and again the pair began to fight. At first it appeared the fight would be another standstill, but soon Naruto began to gain the upper hand. His movements became more fluid and faster, while the clone's became slower and sloppy. "This is not possible! I am your strength!"

Naruto dodged a right hook and disappeared, reappearing behind the clone and planting a kick into his spine. The clone flew forward, and skidded to a halt twenty yards ahead.

"That's just it, you're not. Despite all of the hatred that fills this world, I managed to find people I love and for whom I am willing to die. You don't make me strong, I'm strong in spite of you." Naruto reached down to the necklace that had once been Tsunade's. "We're not the same. I live my life for my precious people. You have nothing worth living for…" The clone reached down only to find it's neck empty.

Slowly, the world around Naruto began to fade, along with the clone, until soon he was standing back in the cavern, Bee beside him. Naruto looked up to his sensei.

"Everyone has a side they don't show, sometimes even they do not know."

ooOOoo

The wind picked up, which surprised Naruto. It had been three months since the first time he met Bee, but it had been many more since he had last been to this place. Tall reeds brushed against Naruto's fingertips as he strode, a figure appearing across the field. She was graceful, but strong—a cunning mixture of power and posture.

"Kyuubi-chan. We need to talk."

The woman turned and took Naruto's breath away, as she always did. Nothing short of gorgeous, the Kyuubi's human form would change many's opinions of the creature. Today she wore a looser white kimino, one akin to a bathrobe. The look in her eyes as they met Naruto's was unreadable, and her lips pursed before she spoke.

"You are here at the request of Bee-sensei. You wish to master my chakra, and in doing so, become my master."

"Kyuubi-chan you know that's not true. In order to become more powerful and to keep both of us alive I need to be able to utilize the power within me-"

"**My** power Naruto-kun! You need to utilize my power, not yours. You act as if this is a mutually beneficial agreement." Naruto backed away at the woman's harsh tone. Meeting his gaze, Naruto caught sight of the tears in her eyes. "**I will not** be a slave, Naruto-kun, to you or anyone else ever again…" Naruto stepped forward, but the Kyuubi backed away, turning from the boy. Again he stepped closer. And again; until soon he stood directly behind the beast. Wrapping his arms around her, he turned her to face him and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"People see you—us—as some sort of beast. A monster. You have been there for all of it—" Pausing, he pulled her back and met her gaze. "We have the power to change that Kyuubi-chan. We can, and will, change that. But in order to achieve this goal I must get stronger. I can swear to you I will never enslave you nor use your power lightly." Shaking her head, the Kyuubi began to pull away. "Kyuubi-chan you know me! Why can't you trust me?"

"Because the last time I trusted a human I ended up here!" yelled Kyuubi.

Naruto froze and his eyes widened. Barely able to speak, Naruto glared hard at the Kyuubi. "What do you mean?"

Kyuubi backed away even more, and turned from the boy.

"Answer me!" Naruto was screaming now, his fists tight with rage. But slowly the world around him began to fade. It was not long before Naruto stood screaming into the blackness.

"ANSWER ME!"

ooOOoo

Naruto awoke abruptly, Bee stand worried above him. Before the boy could speak, Bee pulled him into a standing position.

"There's trouble, we gotta move on the double." With that Bee grabbed Naruto and the duo disappeared.

ooOOoo

Naruto barely had time to register his surroundings before he launched himself backwards, landing twenty meters from his original position. The forest around them had been scarred from a battle, small fires still flickering. Cringing his nose, the scent hit him.

_"Blood. A lot of it."_

"So you smell it too, they are just up ahead. Leave the fighting to me, you can't end up dead."

From the smoke appeared the silhouettes' of two figures. One figure stood tall and bulky, as if it had a large pack on its back. The other stood a bit shorter, but rail thin. Their trademark coats deceived their identities as they approached.

"_Akatsuki_."


	6. Arc One Chapter Three: First Blood

Arc One: Seclusions of a Toad Sage!

Chapter Three: First Blood

"Three for the price of two…I didn't know they were having a sale!" The shorter man laughed at his own joke. He was thinner than his partner, and had gray hair that he slicked back. Unlike his larger partner, this Akatsuki member looked dirtied from battle.

"Must you always talk Hidan-san?" The other member looked annoyed, despite the mask that covered the lower half of his face. With a shrug he adjusted a body that hung on his shoulder—a body covered in blood.

"_Yugito-chan!"_ Naruto glared at the man, unconsciously growling.

Yugito's bearer had eyes that glowed an eerie green, and he stood hunched as if he carried a great load upon his back. Both wore the trademark cloak of Akatsuki—black with a red cloud pattern. "Besides, three is much more than we bargained for. We already have the other one. Leave these two to the others."

They turned to walk away, only to find Bee in their path. "I can't let you walk away from here, with someone the little one finds so dear!" Sliding his foot back, Bee fell into a defensive stance, and drew two of his blades. "So if you be leaving, come and fight. I'll put you both in the ground tonight."

"Well that would just be uncivilized…wouldn't you agree, Itachi-san?" Naruto spun to the voices behind him, to see the duo that had haunted his thoughts these past few months.

Hoshigaki Kisame smirked at the boy's reaction, and uncrossed his arms, gripping the hilt of his zanbatou. His teeth had been filed down into fangs, and his gills fluttered with each breath. Uchiha Itachi merely stood, expressionless, his demeanor calm and relaxed.

Naruto fell into a defensive stance and steadied his breathing, planning a course of action. _"I need to meet up with Bee-sensei if I'm going to survive this…these guys are beyond anyone I've ever faced."_

Naruto shifted his weight to one foot, and his eyes twitched to the side. In an instant, the shark nin was upon him, sending kick after punch after kick. Naruto did his best to block and counterattack, sending punches whenever he saw openings. But these openings all were bait, trying to goad Naruto to slip in his defense. The two disengaged from combat and Naruto landed ten meters away, reassessing his strategy.

"_He's quick…too quick for me to get away-"_ A foot caught Naruto in the stomach, and sent him tumbling back towards Bee and his opponents. As the dust cleared, the boy pushed himself back into a standing position, and wiped a bit of blood from his lip. Kisame stood frozen with his foot outstretched, and a smirk on his lips.

"You're almost seem slower than the last time we met, little one…" Naruto growled, and balanced his chakra for a moment. Immediately the boy's scratches disappeared, and he stood a little more upright. Kisame flinched at the sudden wave of tangible chakra. Naruto smirked as his eyes met the missing nin's.

"Not exactly…" The boy bent at the knees and disappeared from view, appearing in the air beside Kisame and sending a kick towards his head. The shark nin barely blocked in time, and winced at the pain that shot up his arm.

"_So fast!"_ The two disappeared in a series of blows, Naruto maintaining the advantage. _"I don't sense any chakra in his attacks…could it be that-"_

Naruto reversing his momentum caught Kisame off guard and pulled him from his thoughts. The boy retracted his right hook feint and spun the opposite direction, moving to sweep Kisame's legs from under him. The shark nin jumped, only to meet a clone's fist with his chin, and tumble backwards a few meters. Both Naruto's grinned at their success and disappeared. Before Kisame could hit the ground, three Naruto's appeared beneath him, each kicking the man upward.

"Na-"

"-ru-"

"-to!"

Kisame flew upwards, and a fourth ninja appeared above him. "Uzumaki Renden!" A jackhammer kick sent the shark nin back towards the earth, and the impact created a crater a few feet deep.

Landing meters away, Naruto stood pleased with his efforts. A dust cloud covered the area where Kisame had landed, so Naruto turned towards the man's partner. "Looks like you'll have to-"

A punch caught Naruto's chin, but before the boy could fall backwards, a fist grabbed his shirt, and pulled him into the next blow—a hard knee into his stomach. Kisame lifted the boy with one hand as Naruto struggled to catch his breath—Kisame's last kick taking the wind from him. Spinning, Kisame launched the boy towards a nearby tree. Naruto broke through three before coming to a stop.

"Don't get cocky kid…I won't underestimate you again." Drawing Samehada, Kisame disappeared from view. Naruto drew his own katana and stood at the ready, awaiting his deeper instincts to pick up on Kisame's movements. It wasn't long before the boy caught the shark nin's sent and spun, barely parrying his assailant's blows. The two engaged in a clash of steel, Kisame clearly having the upper hand. "You're getting better with a blade…"

"But not good enough!" The voice behind Naruto startled him, but before he could turn he felt something pressed against his back.

"Feed Samehada!" The scales of Kisame's blade shifted and then began to move, shredding skin and muscle alike on Naruto's back, and taking his chakra with them. Screaming in pain, the boy fell to his knees as Kisame chuckled. The shark nin pulled his blade from Naruto's back and wound up, striking Naruto and sending him flying. The orange ninja collapsed in a heap of blood, not even able to muster the strength to lift himself.

"Come on Itachi-san, we'll gang up on the other one and then come back for the boy…he's not going anywhere..." Kisame looked across the battlefield to where Hidan and Kakuzu were struggling to capture Bee. "Oh shit…he's in full tails mode…come on, they're going to need our help."

The two missing nin turned and ran towards the other battle, Naruto's vision fading slightly as they left. Across the opening he could make out a giant creature—what appeared to be a mix of an ox and an octopus—battling four cloaked figures. The creature roared as jutsu struck it from all directions, and lashed out with its great tails.

Tears began to form in Naruto's eyes. _"Bee…Bee-sensei!"_ Naruto placed one hand underneath his chest and pushed, screaming in agony at the pain that shot through his back. The pool of blood that had begun to collect underneath him was spreading like wildfire. He clawed at the earth, trying with all his might to reach his teacher and friend.

Then the darkness consumed him.

ooOOoo

Hachibi jumped skyward, lashing out with a tentacle towards the man with the scythe. That one had cut him earlier and then drawn some strange symbol in the dirt with his own blood. Now, whenever the man cut a part of his body, Hachibi knew he would receive a similar cut. Since then he had done his best to keep the man away from those funky symbols.

It hadn't been long until the other one had become impatient and also joined in, four creatures pouring from his back—each wearing a mask similar to the Kumo Black Ops. or ANBU he had encountered.

"_Each of the masks seems to have a specific affinity…so I just have to learn their attacks and I should be able to counter them…"_

Suddenly a figure appeared above Hachibi, swinging a huge blade down towards the creature. He swung a tentacle towards the man, only to watch as the ninja's blade sliced through his thick hide and absorbed his chakra. Retreating back a bit, Hachibi gathered his thoughts. The arrival of more enemies would prove an issue.

"_That mean's Naruto-kun is out for good…its up to me now…"_ Roaring, Hachibi lifted his remaining tails above his head while he swung at the ninja with his claws. An orb of chakra began to form above his head and steadily grew in size. A large disc of flame striking his side drew his attention towards the unassuming ninja to his left. The man seemed so calm considering he was in the heart of a battle. It was then that their eyes met. The boy looked upset, sad even, at how the scenario had played out. So many emotions came rushing towards Hachibi, none of them malicious or evil.

"_This boy…"_

"Tsukuyomi."

Suddenly, the demon was gone, in its place a built, dark skinned man falling towards the earth. _"I'm sorry Naruto-kun…"_ The man smiled a bit as the air rushed past him, content with his end.

ooOOoo

Once again, Naruto found himself in a beautiful place. The desert that stretched out below him seemed to go on forever from his perch on the mesa. "So this must be the afterlife…" Hearing footsteps, Naruto turned to see a glowing figure approaching. "And you must be a Shinigami." Smiling, Naruto rose to great his new guest, only then getting a clearer view.

Before him stood Kyuubi, in all her radiance. She approached slowly, appearing almost shy before the young boy. Naruto smiled at her, glad to see her joining him. "Well death can't be so bad…I'll be spending an eternity with such a gorgeous woman."

The Kyuubi smiled slightly at the boy's comment, before looking away. "You're not dead Naruto-kun…not yet…" Naruto looked puzzled, stepping towards the Kyuubi.

"I'm not dead…?"

"You were right Naruto-kun…I've been there for all of it. All of the pain…all of the glares and whispers…" Turning, Naruto caught sight of the Kyuubi's face, and saw her cry for the second time. "I can't watch you get hurt again…"

Before she could react, Naruto was there, holding her tight in his arms. "I promise Kyuubi-chan, I will survive. I will get stronger so that you never have to worry again…" The pair stood there for what felt like an eternity before Kyuubi broke the embrace and pulled back a bit, her face inches from Naruto's. Slowly, she brought up her hand to touch the boy's cheek, and she smiled.

A bright light engulfed the pair.

ooOOoo

Kisame appeared below the man, ready to catch his falling prey, while the others stood in silence. Another roar tore their concentration from the falling eight tails, each turning their attention across the battlefield. Before their eyes could register, a glowing figure punted Kisame like a small pebble, the shark nin skipping across the earth for hundreds of meters. The glow then disappeared, reappearing mid air to catch Bee and landing lightly. Naruto placed his sensei on the ground softly, before turning to face his remaining opponents.

The boy's appearance had changed dramatically. Gone were his clothes or supplies. The boy appeared simply as a bright, glowing outline, nine tails shimmering behind him. Around his neck appeared the six symbols of the Rikudou Sennin, and all across his body was the black outline of his seal. The boy's eyes glared white, and directed their gaze towards Hidan and Kakuzu.

Hidan launched himself forward towards the boy, only to watch as he disappeared. The man stopped and lowered his scythe, glancing around in all directions. He nearly cried out when Naruto appeared directly in front of him, an inch from his face. The hit was too fast to be seen, but the wake of destruction left behind by Hidan's body was enough. The boy watched as the dust settled, then turned his head sharply towards Kakuzu. The man backed away slowed before sprinting after his fallen partner. Growling, Naruto moved to take chase, before a voice stopped him.

"Naruto-san." Spinning, Naruto came face-to-face with Itachi. The Uchiha's eyes spun, and the world around the pair faded.

"Hello Naruto-san. This is Tsukuyomi. Here I control everything. I have brought you here for a very specific reason…"

ooOOoo

Jiraiya came upon the clearing that appeared manmade. The dust was slowly settling and he could smell burnt flesh and fresh blood. He had felt the first signs of Naruto's chakra not too long ago, but already the great battle had raged. But that hadn't been the only chakra he'd sensed. _"Ataksuki…"_

Smoke still rose from the scorched earth, and only moments before, Jiraiya had lost the traces of Naruto's chakra—but he could sense the power that was nearby. A faint glow began to pierce through the fading smoke, and Jiraiya readied himself for battle. Rushing forward, he stopped a few meters from his new target.

The glowing figure before him stood upright and calm, facing away from the Toad Sage. Eight tails flowed out from behind the boy, a ninth supporting the body of another Jinchuuriki, Killer Bee.

"Naruto-kun?"

The boy spun, rage in the glare he directed at his sensei. In a moment, his expression changed to one of relief, and his glowing eyes met Jiraiya's. It was then that the old man noticed the woman in Naruto's arms.

"Sensei…I am glad you came. They came for Yugito-chan…Bee-sensei and I arrived just in time." Jiraiya glanced around worried, tensing his muscles for any sudden movements. "Do not worry…they are gone, but we need to get these two to Kumo's hospital." Jiraiya was immediately at the boy's side, and took hold of Bee, throwing him over his shoulder. Naruto continued to carry Yugito bridal style, and the Toad Sage watched as her body became engulfed in the glowing chakra that surrounded Naruto. Her wounds began to close slowly, and her expression became strangely calm.

"Let's move."

ooOOoo

Kisame rose slowed, patting the dust from his pants and looking to his partner.

"He certainly has grown…almost thought he'd sense the switch." Itachi rose beside him, nodding slowly.

"He definitely has potential, I can agree with that."

"It's a shame that those idiots Kakuzu-san and Hidan-san were here, drawing out the eight tails like that. This mission would have gone much smoother without their interference."

Itachi nodded, his expression unreadable. "That is true, but what is done is done. We now know the boy can access the Kyuubi's chakra, and that is no small feet. Even at forty percent power he still posed a threat. This information cannot be taken lightly."

Kisame nodded and swung his sword back into place on his back, adjusting his cloak.

"Everything is coming into motion…"

ooOOoo

Naruto awoke in a large bright room, annoyed at his ability to constantly be in the hospital. Sitting up slightly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Jiraiya sat beside his bed, smiling down at his student.

"Welcome back, Naruto-kun." Naruto smiled and jumped up, wrapping the man in a hug. "Yes, yes, it's good to see you too Naruto-kun!" The man returned the embrace, overjoyed to see his student—who had become a son to him—awake and safe.

Naruto broke the embrace and glanced around the room, noticing the curtains that separated them from other patients. "Yugito-chan, Bee-sensei—are they alright?" Sitting up fully the boy shifted his weight to rise, only to feel a large hand against his chest.

"They're fine Naruto-kun…thanks to you. After we brought them here you returned to your normal state and collapsed from exhaustion. You've been asleep for the past few hours regaining their strength. Let me help you up."

With the aid of his sensei, Naruto rose to his full height and stretched, feeling the soreness in his muscles. The skin on his back had fully healed; leaving no trace that Kisame's blade had ever touched his body. Moving stiffly, Naruto pulled back the curtains, nearly running into the back of the large man that stood there. The figure turned, and looked down to the boy before him.

"So this is the one who my brother has taken such a liking too."

Naruto looked up at the man who towered over him. His frame alone was shocking, the man's shoulders almost as wide as two of the boy. His skin was dark, just as dark as Bee's, and his voice boomed like thunder. Lifting his arm, Naruto saw huge bracers on his wrists, appearing to be some form of weapon. He placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, his grip like iron and his body radiating heat.

"You are the one I have to thank for my brother's safety." Naruto smiled up at the man, scratching the back of his head.

"He would have done the same for me, if our roles had been reversed-" As he spoke, Naruto looked to the man's outfit, particularly the hat that adorned his head. "-Raikage-sama." Naruto placed both hands before his chest and clasped them, bowing low. After a moment, he felt the man's strong hand on his shoulder again, guiding him into a standing position.

"You will not bow before me, Naruto-kun. It is I, who am in your debt." The Raikage mimicked Naruto's actions and bowed low, before rising and turning to Jiraiya.

"I assume you will join me in searching the area for any traces of the culprits. I already dispatched the MODE, but I doubt even they can handle ninja of this caliber if they discovered them." Jiraiya nodded before turning to Naruto.

"Just return to the apartment and rest, I'll be back in a few hours." Naruto nodded and his sensei turned to the Raikage. They both disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto looked past where the men had just stood to the sleeping figure of Killer Bee. The man's chest calmly rose and fell, and his vitals rang out in steady 'beeps' on the EKG. But it was the figure across the room that drew Naruto's attention.

Yugito's face seemed calm, almost happy. Flashs of her covered in blood and wounds were comforted by the image of her peacefully resting, safe within the walls of Kumo. Standing beside her, he took her hand in his, and his heart jumped as she closed her thin fingers around his large ones. She stirred slightly, her eyes opening slowly as they tried to adjust to the light. Above her, Naruto's image shone like an angel, and she clasped his hand even tighter.

"Naruto-kun…" As the name left her lips, she smiled, closing her eyes once more. "I was dreaming about you…" Naruto sat on the edge of her bed, and brushed her hair from her face. She looked beautiful to him, resting so peacefully. His hand stroked her cheek, and she pressed her face against his palm. As she opened her eyes, a single tear trailed down her cheek, and her dark eyes looked lost in Naruto's blue. "You came for me." Her breath was deep and labored, her bandaged chest restricting her movement.

Rubbing the tear away with his thumb, Naruto smiled, almost addressing her comment as if it were ridiculous. "Of course I did. I could never let them hurt you." With that she smiled and closed her eyes once more, wrapping Naruto's fingers in hers more tightly. It wasn't long before she drifted off to sleep once more.

ooOOoo

Three Months Later…

ooOOoo

_Naruto embraced Yugito-chan tightly, feeling her chest heave against him. She was crying, the second time he had seen her tears fall, and he pulled away a bit, wiping the streams from her cheeks._

"_This won't be the last you see of me…I promise." Her hand moved to the back of his neck, pulling his lips to hers. As the two pulled apart, Naruto rested his hand upon her stomach—where her seal resided. "A piece of me will always be here with you."_

"_The kid's got some moves, you have to give him that!" Bee chuckled at the Toad Sage's comment, the pair watching from a few feet away. Smirking, Naruto broke their embrace and turned to the duo, striding towards Bee._

_Once he stood before the Jinchuuriki, he bowed, clasping his hands together. "It has been an honor, sensei." Rising, the boy watched as Killer Bee bowed, returning the gesture._

"_An honor it has been, yes, but the honor was mine, Naruto-kun. I wish you luck on your journey." Naruto smiled and the two embraced, pulling apart after a few moments._

_The boy turned, looking now towards the two friends he was leaving behind. "I will return, only Kami knows when, but that much is certain. My word is iron."_

_Turning, Naruto and Jiraiya nodded to each other, both disappearing towards the wilderness._

Naruto looked back across the peaks which ran beside Kumo, smiling to himself at the memories of the place he had called home—even if only for a while. Jiraiya's hand found its way to the boy's shoulder, pulling him a bit towards their next destination.

"We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future. It has been almost two years, but there is a long road ahead still; a journey that will shape you as a man and as a warrior. This road holds only pain and struggle—and loss. But you will bear it, and learn from it, and grow with it. A great responsibility has been placed upon you—a responsibility that will shape your future and the future of the world. Are you ready for it?"

Naruto's smile was all the answer he needed.

ooOOoo

Notes:

**Mo**kumoku **De**nkou (MODE) (Silent Lightning): Kumo's Special Forces and Assasination branch of the military. Similar in function and skill to Konohagakure's ANBU branch.


	7. Arc One Chapter Four: Revelation

Arc One: Seclusions of a Toad Sage!

Chapter Four: Revelation

The air was calm and Naruto's thoughts drifted towards Yugito as a breeze swept over the waves. The ocean was beautiful, especially at this time of day—when the sun was disappearing below the horizon.

"Hello Kyuubi-chan. Are you here to wish me a happy birthday?" Spinning, he addressed the woman he already knew was approaching, but was put off by her sullen face. "You seem upset…is everything okay?"

The woman smiled a bit at the boy's attempts to comfort her, but quickly her expression resumed its original grimness. "Its time you knew what I knew, Naruto-kun. About you, and your family."

To say Naruto was shocked would be to understate the obvious. The boy stood, mortified by what he had just heard. Barely able to stutter, Naruto stepped closer to the Kyuubi. "My family…?"

"Yes Naruto-kun," the Kyuubi paused, turning her gaze towards the ocean. "Its time you learned the truth." Stepping forward, her gaze returned to the boy, her hand outstretched. Before the boy could react she placed her hand upon his forhead, and his eyes rolled back to show pure white.

_The night was still—as most nights are—and uneventful to most. October tenth had come and gone as a day of little significance to the ninja world thus far, and it would seem it would close as such._

_A scream broke the stillness, and Minato returned to the cave behind him, unable to watch his wife in such agony. Kushina had been forced out to this remote location for her own—and the village's—protection. Childbirth was a time when a Jinchuuriki's seal was at its weakest, and he, as Hokage, needed to ensure the safety of the village above all else._

_Minato nodded to the three ANBU that stood outside the cave as he entered, leaving the watch to them as he went to comfort his wife. He knew she would be in good hands, Sarutobi's wife being one of the most renowned medics in the Fire Country, but he wanted to be there for Kushina—and their son. He took his place beside his wife, taking her hand as her grip became iron. With a scream and a few moments, Biwako looked up towards them, smiling all the while._

"_He's coming! I need you to stay strong Kushina-chan, he's almost here!" Again Kushina screamed, her face going red with pain and effort._

"_Stay strong honey, you can do this, just breath. Think of Naruto-kun; our little boy will be with us soon!"_

_Almost instantly, Kushina collapsed back into her bed, exhausted and sweating, and Biwako began to clean the newborn. Minato went to work as Biwako cleaned Naruto, already strengthening the seal that Kushina bore on her stomach._

"_It looks like the seal held…everything is going to be fine, Kushina-chan." He looked to his wife, and at that moment, Biwako placed their boy into her arms. Despite all the pain and sweat, Kushina beamed at her boy, unable to dam her happiness._

"_Minato-kun…we're parents!" She gripped Minato's hand while her other arm held Naruto. The couple radiated happiness, Minato kissing his wife and looking to Biwako for guidance. She mere smiled and strode from the cave, leaving the family together._

_Minato grasped his newborn son in his arms, and smiled down at Naruto. "Naruto-kun…a strong name for a strong boy! One day you will be a great warrior like your father." Kushina chuckled as Minato spoke, recovering from the ordeal well._

"_And almost as much of a knucklehead!" Both the parents laughed, still overjoyed at the addition to their family. A yell from outside tore them from their thoughts however, and the sound of bodies hitting hard ground sent chills down their spine. Immediately, Naruto was back in Kushina's arms, and Minato had run to the cave entrance._

_The bodies were strewn about, blood covering the ground and gathering in pools. Three ANBU and a high ranking Jonin, dead in an instant. Minato's eyes widened as he sprinted back into the cave._

"_Kushina-chan we have to-"_

_A man stood behind Kushina, hand resting on her shoulder and Naruto calmly sleeping in his arms._

_Minato froze, unable to access the best way to approach his opponent, who's face was shrouded in shadow. A voice came from the darkness, piercing Minato's heart._

"_If you want Naruto-kun to live, do not move." Minato growled in fury and looked to his wife. No words passed between them, but the message was simple._

_Minato looked to the figure, deciding the best way to attack, and instead saw the man extend his arm, throwing the newborn across the cave. Minato disappeared and reappeared instantly, catching the boy softly, Naruto not even waking. But when he turned back towards Kushina, she was gone. Minato stood in silence, coming to grip with the situation before him. What felt like hours passed, the Yondiame Hokage unable to come to terms with what he had seen or what had transpired. Had it not been for the explosion outside, he may have remained frozen._

_Konoha was in total disarray when Minato arrived, immediately teleporting to the Hokage's office. Naruto still in his arms, the Hokage strode through the building as the chaos ensued around him, no explanations for the situation at hand. He burst into the office, relieved to see Sarutobi standing there. He passed the boy to him, and looked into the distance, where the Kyuubi wrecked havoc on the village._

"_If the Kyuubi has been released, that means that-"_

_Minato merely nodded, still gazing from his window towards the beast._

"_So our worst fears have been realized?"_

_Minato nodded again and looked to the man, both recognized the fear and fury that griped the other, and both nodded. Tears streaming down his face, Minato look to the boy, and nodded, looking back to Sarutobi._

"_It has to be done."'_

_The beast's tails swung violently, destroying whole sections of the village as if they were nothing. Its power met no resistance, despite the assault it was receiving from the village's shinobi. In an instant, however, the battlefield changed. A giant toad appeared, a lone figure standing upon its head. The toad bore a colossal pipe hanging from the side of its mouth, and a katana hung from its sash. The Kyuubi's attention became fixated on the man, his presence difficult to ignore._

_Minato looked into the eyes of his hours old son, tears streaming freely. "I'm sorry," he whispered, knowing that it would never be enough. Looking back to the beast, he placed his hands upon the boys stomach and began the sealing…_

Naruto stumbled backwards as Kyuubi removed her hand, her gaze filled with sorrow. The boy stared at his hands, which were shaking, his bloodshot eyes burning. Slowly, a single tear fell from his chin. Followed by another. Soon, streams of tears streaked down his face and the boy fell to his knees, sobbing.

In an instant, the Kyuubi was there, comforting the boy. He gripped her in a tight embrace as he continued to sob, torn between joy and grief. He had finally met his parents, only to be immediately faced with their deaths.

"Your parents were brave people…and they did what they had to do for their people and for each other…you are more like them than you will ever know." Naruto pulled back from the embrace, the tears seeming to slow a tad. His breathing slowed from its desperate gasps, until soon his calm demeanor returned, and he regarded the Kyuubi with a gaze she had never seen.

"Thank you," he whispered. The world around the pair faded.

ooOOoo

Naruto sat upright as soon as he opened his eyes, and bolted from his tent. The sun was just breaking the horizon in the distance, and Jiraiya stood a few meters away from him stretching. His sensei turned, regarding Naruto with a puzzled look. The boy looked to his sensei for a moment, rage in his stare, and Jiraiya felt the wave of chakra as Naruto's Nouzui Gokan Seal (Brain Stem Seal) was deactivated.

"Narut-" But before Jiraiya could finish the boy had disappeared sprinting off into the forest, ground cracking beneath him as he went. Jiraiya disappeared after him, hoping he could keep up with the boy's unworldly speed.

It wasn't long before he found the boy, his chakra signature hard to miss in the wilderness. The landscape around him had been destroyed, and Naruto stood, glowing, encased in the Kyuubi's chakra. Nine tails rippled behind him as if blown by some non-existent wind. Upon the entrance of Jiraiya, Naruto reined in his destruction, turning towards the man. The glare that was sent towards the Toad Sage was filled with only malice, and nearly sent Jiraiya backing away from the boy. Before Jiraiya could register, Naruto was a foot in front of him, grabbing onto the man's shirt and lifting him from the ground.

"Why? Why didn't you tell me?" Naruto was yelling at his sensei, who merely stared in confusion.

"What's wrong Naruto-kun? Please…just talk to me," pleaded Jiraiya.

Naruto dropped his sensei back on his feet and turned, walking a few feet away before stopping again. Slowly, Naruto reverted from his tailed state, and the Kyuubi's chakra disappeared.

"…about my parents…why didn't you tell me about my parents?" Turning back towards his sensei, Naruto was crying again, unable to mask his sorrow with anger. "Why did you let me live all these years, thinking I was unloved or unwanted? Why?" Naruto's voice had risen into a yell, and he was pacing towards his sensei. "Why?" yelled Naruto, now once again with a foot of his sensei.

The man's expression had changed at Naruto's first mentioning of parents, transforming to one of pure sorrow. It had obviously arisen unwanted memories in the old man, memories that deeply upset him.

"It was only a matter of time I guess…I was supposed to wait to give this to you, but it seems appropriate that you receive it now." Jiraiya rolled up his sleeve to reveal a small tattoo of the kanji 'promise.' The Toad Sage bit his thumb and rubbed the bleeding appendage across the kanji, a small puff of smoke covering his arm. When the smoke cleared, Jiraiya stood holding a small scroll.

The scroll's covering was littered with ornate decorations, but one could see its edges had seen aging. It bore the seal of the Hokage, and Jiraiya extended it towards Naruto.

"Your father wanted you to have this…"

Naruto approached cautiously, glancing between the scroll and his sensei, before he reached out and took it for himself.

"It should open with a bit of your blood." Naruto nodded and bit his own thumb, wiping the blood across the length of the scroll. The parchment glowed a faint blue for a moment before it opened, the Hokage's seal disappearing in a small puff of smoke. Jiriaya nodded to the boy before turning and walking back into the forest towards their camp. Naruto stared at the scroll for a moment before he unrolled it and caught sight of the writing within.

_Dear Naruto-kun,_

_If you're reading this, then I am dead and Jiraiya-sama has completed his mission. This has been no easy task for him, of that I am sure, but if he has given you this letter than there is one other thing I am certain of: you have grown into the ninja and man I always knew you would become. Please do not hold keeping this secret against him. I made him swear he would discover as much as he could about your mother's death as he could before returning to train you. You have Namikaze and Uzumaki blood running through your veins, and I'm sure you're as stubborn and persistent as your mother and I; but that also means you have a big heart—one capable of forgiveness._

_There is so much I want to share with you—my life, my experiences, and any wisdom I can pass on. But time is short, and many words have little meaning. What does have meaning is our love for you, Naruto-kun. That love—our love for our son—will last forever and remain untouched and unwavering by death. There is nothing in this world or the next that could compare to the magnitude of our affection and our hopes and dreams for you. Know this when you are faced with challenges, challenges that appear to leave no room for hope: we are with you forever and always. No matter what happens, you are my hero and my legacy—what remains of a dying name. You only live once, but if lived correctly, once is enough. I have lived correctly, and in doing so, realized my greatest dream: you._

_Even past death,_

_Namikaze Minato_

Naruto remained on his knees, tears staining the parchment in his hands, his heart torn by the man he had never called 'father.'

ooOOoo

Jiraiya looked up at the sound of Naruto approaching, the boy taking his place across from his sensei at the fire. Silence hung between them for what seemed like an eternity, and the dull glow from the sunset soon faded from their camp. It was the boy that spoke first, his tone even and controlled.

"Thank you…" Jiraiya looked a bit confused, before the boy continued. "-for keeping your promise." Jiraiya smiled at his student, and rose, sitting beside Naruto and pulling him close.

"Your father was like a son to me, and you are closer than blood." Again, the duo became silent. Naruto stared into the fire, his mind in another place.

"Can you tell me about him?" Pulling his eyes from the flame, he looked pleadingly towards Jiraiya, who merely smiled.

"I would love to…"

ooOOoo

Naruto and Jiraiya packed up their tents and sealed the final storage scroll just as the sun crested the far hills, flooding the landscape with warmth and life.

"We'll make our way to Myouboku Mountain over the next month, and its there that we will begin the final stages of your training. From that point on, your growth will be your own to handle, and we will return to Konoha to report a successful mission." Jiraiya stored the scroll in his back pouch, and donned his coat and looked to his student, who's gaze was elsewhere.

"Do you mind if we make a short detour?"

Jiraiya smiled, and looked off into the distance.

ooOOoo

One Year Later…

ooOOoo

Naruto and Jiraiya moved speedily, tree limbs falling behind as quickly as they appeared. The old man could not help but admire his student's unbound joy at the prospect of returning home. For one such as him—a Sannin who had traveled the boundaries of the world many times over—it was simply another much needed break. But to Naruto, a new phase of his life was just beginning; a phase in which Naruto would prove just how capable he was, to everyone.

Jiraiya aimed his next leap carefully, falling into step right beside his student.

"There will be a lot to do once we get to Konoha, before we can call this mission complete. So, stick close to me and don't stray until I say you can, alright?"

Naruto simply nodded, his eyes set on the path before him. The sun was setting in the distance, but Naruto knew that they were quickly approaching home.

"_Home…to think its been four years…"_

The boy's outfit blew slightly in the wind, his sensei's trademark wooden sandals donning his feet. Naruto had long since abandoned his original ninja clothes, opting more for something that allowed him to blend with civilians and warriors alike. The boy wore a simple buttoned white shirt, with the top four buttons undone. Overtop he opted for a black Gi with a white interior, which came down to his mid-thigh. His hakama was unpleated, as most civilians' were, and its hem rested on his mid shin. His headband held his unruly hair from his forehead. Bandages covered his arms and ran up his neck, covering the lower half of his face.

After a few moments, the top of the great tree came into view peaking over the horizon. Immediately, Naruto sped forward, unleashing his full speed. The boy simply disappeared, the movement of trees far ahead being the only indication that he was even progressing.

"_That boy…"_

Naruto smiled and reached up to his neck, feeling the necklace which lay there. _"Four years and I'm finally back!" _As the sun set, Naruto could see the faint glow of his village, and it pressed him further still. Cresting the final hill, Naruto came to rest at the precipice, overlooking his home.

"Konohagakure! You're number one-"

Down below, fires raged in separate districts of the city, and faint shouts could be heard. War had come to Konoha.

ooOOoo


End file.
